The Story of Three Girls
by ShadowKat
Summary: When three friends are transported to a world where the Earth hangs in the sky they encounter more then just a shock. Can they figure out why a cetain red-eyed general wants them in time? Failure and death are not options but are always possiblities..
1. A New World

AN: Hey everyone, I'm back with the revised "Three Girls" fic! I've redone some of the stuff, fixed spelling and grammar errors and hopefully it is better then the first one! This is all part of a project that I'm working on called "Project G.P.S. (Gaea Protector's Series)" where I redo (fix spelling errors, grammar errors, add in details or needed paragraphs) the series and then post a new story about the Protectors. Yes, I'm not done with these girls yet! 

So please review and tell me what you think! Thanks a lot!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Escaflowne characters nor the story. It belongs to Bandai Entertainment. The only things I own in this story are my characters!

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Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is done for you!

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Chapter 1: A New World

Laughter and talk all swirled around the large lunchroom as Katina Taylor, Alexandra Slym, and Nicole Rosemer were all sitting at their favorite table in Cross Winds High School. Kat, a 5"4' girl with waist long dark brown hair and blue eyes the color of a Spring sky, sat across from her two best friends, Nicole and Alex. 

Nicole was a 5"2' girl with shoulder blade length blonde hair and brown eyes the color of an Oak tree's bark, and Alex, the 5"5' girl with shoulder length light brown hair and sharp green eyes. They were arguing about whether the cute jock a few tables over was currently checking Kat out. "He was so checking you out, girl!" Alex whispered.

"No, I think he was checking out Miss Hightail over there," Nicole whispered back, motioning to the popular cheerleader. She was nicknamed "Miss Hightail" behind her back because it was known throughout the school that not only did she always keep her blonde hair swept up in a high ponytail but she was also riding on a high horse.

"Come on, admit it! You think he _was_ checking Kat out!" 

Nicole blushed a little and didn't reply. 

"I don't care what he was doing, I _don't_ like him. He's cute, sure, but definitely not smarter then a bullfrog and I'm sure he wouldn't care about me even if we were going out," Kat said, ending the discussion. She had that effect when there was something trivial to argue about. 

Nicole nodded. "Kat's right. Anyway, I don't really care either. All that I really care about right now is that sleepover tonight at Kat's house!"

"Yeah. I can't wait to try out that stupid spell and see if it works," Alex agreed. 

Kat laughed. "Me neither. It sounded like fun, so I figure what the heck," she said. 

Everyone nodded. 

Kat suddenly happened to catch a glimpse of Nicole's watch. She realized that she was about to be late for her next class. "Shoot it, I'm going to be late. See you after school!" Kat said as she stood up and rushed out of the lunchroom.

Nicole and Alex, taking the queue from Kat, got up and started to slowly walk to their next class. "I really want to see what will happen. People say Wicca isn't worth your time and it's just a bunch of stupid thoughts," Nicole commented. 

"Yeah. But Kat seems to want to try this, and she's never lead us wrong in the past," Alex agreed.

After school the trio walked to Baskin and Robbins 31. It was close to their school and it was a habit of theirs, especially since they knew the kid that was working there today. It was always good to drop off and see what they could get. As they took their ice cream and slid into a booth at the far end of the shop, they started talking. 

"So I figure that we'll go home, talk for a while, play my bro's video games, eat some pizza, talk some more, maybe do homework and then play some more games and mess around until half an hour before midnight," Kat explained, not giving very much detail for the night's events.

"Sounds like a plan. I can't wait," Alex said. 

"Hey, Kitty Kat," a voice said. 

Kat looked up and saw the waiter, Eric, standing over her. "What'd I say about the name?" She asked, annoyed. Everyone seemed to like calling her that. 

"Sorry, but I've got a couple extra quarts of ice cream that's left over from the last shipment. Boss says he wants it gone, whether it's given away or sold. You want it?" Eric asked.

"What kind?" Nicole asked, the look in her eyes telling them that she didn't really care but she'd still ask. 

"Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, World-" he was cut off. 

All three girls said, "yes" in unison. 

He smiled and walked off. 

"Man, I think this is our lucky day," Alex commented as she dug into her sundae. All the girls started laughing because it was a common fact that they were not that lucky.

"Change in plans girls. We have to add eating those quarts of ice cream into our night activities," Kat said.

After wasting most of the night away with talk, video games and food, Kat, Alex and Nicole slipped into Kat's room and closed the door half an hour to midnight. Upon entering Kat's room they found a double bed against the far wall, a nightstand next to it, a closet across from her bed, a couple bean bags littered around the room, and a desk next to the door. Everyone in the house was asleep so they had to make sure to be very quiet. 

Nicole lit the candles and Alex made the 5-pointed star with chalk on the ground as Kat had instructed. It was a good thing that Kat had found chalk that could write on carpet and it also helped that her carpet was darkly colored. Kat placed the candles around the star and then they stepped into the middle of it. 

Facing each other, they joined hands and closed their eyes. "By the power of the moon, 

The power of the sun and stars, 

We wish on our might that we be taken a far," they chanted together.

They continued to chant over and over again until the clock struck midnight. Suddenly each of the girls began to glow with a gentle light. Nicole glowed purple, Alex glowed green and Kat glowed blue. What they didn't know was that this glowing that they were doing would soon be a part of them. At the same time each of the girls felt a rush of warmth flow through their bodies. A little taken by surprise, their chanting was broken for a second but they quickly recovered and continued.

Suddenly they disappeared from Kat's room. It didn't happen in a huge bang or other sound affect, no flash of light, no sudden smoke filling the room, they just vanished, reappearing in an empty field. As they chanted, a golden beam of light that seemed to make the clouds come alive with an earthly light came shooting down from the heavens. It enveloped them in its light; small sparks drifting around them-moon dust. They were very gently taken from the Earth, as if carried by a hand trying not to crush them, and rushed to another planet, just behind the moon.

The night sky stared down on Dilandau Albatou, Captain of the new Dragon Slayers, and his troops as they waited in a field. A small, cool, breeze had picked up and blew his silver hair away from his face. If the two moons above him had chosen to light up the night as they usually did, then he would've been in the perfect lightly to seem almost gloriously heroic. However, he did not care. He only cared about the dull shinning of the moon.

Being out in the night for most of his life, he knew when something was astray. He glanced at the sky and caught the sight of a golden beam of light strike the earth a mile away from him and his troops. The light shone brightly, lighting up the whole field and everything that surrounded it, for just a few seconds and then disappeared.

Surprise rushed through his veins. What was that? The only bright light that ever came was when that girl from the Mystic Moon, Hitomi, had come. Could this be her again? Had she developed some sort of power over the light that had brought here her?

After 5 minutes of watching, Dilandau motioned his troops forward. It seemed as if their visitors had chosen not to show themselves, so that meant they would be the welcoming committee. They slowly made their way up to where the light had dropped its captives. Dilandau stopped a few feet away from the three bodies and saw that the captives were three girls, all wearing the weirdest clothes. They were even stranger then the last Mystic Moon's girl's clothes. 

He stared at them, making sure that they were asleep. Though they looked like girls, he couldn't be sure. This could be some sort of trap. But after surveying them, he finally bent down next to one with long brown hair and checked her pulse. It was strong. 

He gathered her up in his arms and turned to his men. "Take them," he said, and started walking back to his red and black guymelef.

Kat slowly opened her eyes, coming back into the conscious world. She didn't know where she was, only that she was on something soft. Her body ached as if she had just done the world's hardest gymnastic routine without being a gymnast. Oh jeez, what did I do? She wondered as she rolled onto her side and propped herself up with her elbow, blinking and looking around. 

She was in a plain room, dark because there was only a small window high above her head with iron cast bars across it letting in the faintest of light. However, besides the lack of light, which her eyes were still getting used too, she found that she was on a bed-actually a small cot with hay for the mattress and a sheet over it-and a small nightstand that looked like it served as a stool also. Both were bolted to the ground. 

It wasn't the way the furniture was bolted to the ground or how there was water slipping down the rock walls around her, algae and moss all ready part of the décor that caught her attention. It was the placement of a slick, metal door with bolts around it and not apparent doorknob that interested her. Kat slowly got to her feet, wincing every time her muscle did the slightest of movements, and hobbled over to the door. 

She put her hand against it, feeling the cold metal beneath her fingers, and ran her hand along the outside of it. There was no knob, no hidden button, no keypad, no nothing. It was just a metal door.

Suddenly a small wave of panic hit her. Where was she? There were no doors like this on Earth, as least, not that she knew of. So, where was she? Where were Alex and Nicole? She wondered. She turned back to the room and looked at it, finding only the obvious, she was alone in it. She went back to her cot sat down on it, staring at the door.

She had no idea where she was, whom she was dealing with or where Alex and Nicole were or if they were hurt. Anger rushed through her, replacing the panic. She clenched her hands into fists and hit the bed. We should've never done that spell! Look where it got us! She thought angrily.

Alex came rushing back into the conscious world, confused. She opened her eyes and sat up. But she immediately wished she hadn't. Her whole body screamed at her to take it easy, which she ignored. She was in a small room, darkened by the lack of light. There was a small window high up with iron cast bars through it letting in the smallest amounts of lights. Moss and other types of algae climbed the rock walls and there were stagnant pools of water all around.

She found that her bed was really a pathetic type of cot bolted down to the floor. Her nightstand, probably not even that, but a pathetic stool was also bolted down. Aren't they the decorating type? She thought sarcastically. I wonder when I'll get my five-star meal. 

Narrowing her eyes she scanned the room. The only other light source besides the window was a single candle burning next to a metal door. Since the candlelight played off the door, she found that it was covered in bolts and looked very heavy. Also it didn't have any sort of keypad or doorknob on it. But what made her real uneasy was that fact that Kat and Nicole weren't there. 

She got up off her cot with much protest from her body and sort of hobbled over to a wall. She then began to run her hand around the walls of the room, looking for a way out. She found that there wasn't one. Not even on the door. That's when fear began to pick at her. 

She was alone, without her friends or an escape, and she didn't know where she was. Stop it. Kat will get us out of this. She always does, she thought as she went back and sat down on the cot. I just have to wait for the next move.

Nicole opened her eyes, back into the world of the conscious. She forced herself to sit up and then stand, her body protesting that it was tired. She ignored the complaints rising from her still dormant muscles. She was a little glad that she was still skating; it kept her in good shape.

She looked around and found that she was in a room, darkened by the fact that there were no lights or even a window, where the only furniture was a small cot that was bolted down and a bolted down nightstand. She looked around some more, finding the rock walls covered in moss and pools of water gathering around her, but she didn't find Kat or Alex. 

They weren't in the room with her. It looked as if she was the lone inhabitant. Fear began to rise up in her stomach. Where are they? Where am I? She wondered.

But looking around the room made her even more afraid. What if the spell went wrong? What if we're on some planet or something and Kat and Alex are dead? What if we we're separated? She thought. Her fear turned into dead set panic as it coursed through her. She gripped the bed hard, forcing herself to think that nothing bad happened to them. Oh, please let them be all right.  
  


Kat was jerked from her thoughts when she heard a swooshing noise. She looked up to find that the door to her cell was open, and someone was standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the bright light behind it. A small growl leapt up in her throat as stood up, drawing herself to her full height and glaring at the figure. Someone who tried to make a flashy appearance would not intimidate her.

The figure stepped into her cell and the door slid closed behind him. She found that the figure was a boy, and after studying him for a few seconds, she concluded that he was only a year or two older then her. He had silver hair that sort of flipped out at the sides, garnet eyes that sparkled in the dim light, making them glow, and from what she could tell, a very nice build.

He wore a black uniform under a red chest plate, shoulder pads with huge spikes on top, gauntlets, and ankles that reached up to his shins, and a gold plate around his forehead that his bangs sort of hid. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Who are you?" Kat demanded.

"I am Dilandau Albatou, Captain of the Zaibach Dragon Slayers and you are?" He replied evenly.

"Why in hell should I tell you my name?" Kat spit.

Feisty-very feisty. We'll have to deal with that, Dilandau thought. "Because you are my prisoner. If you wish to be let go, then you better tell me your name." There was irritation in his tone.

"Kat." She matched his tone with ice. She had to admit, the guy was right. If she wanted out, she better do as he said. However, it didn't mean she had to cooperate.

"Kat… Kat…" Dilandau played with the name on his tongue.

"Yeah, that's my name. Now where are my friends?" 

Dilandau eyed her. "Come with me and you'll see them," he said. He turned and walked up to the door and paused. 

Kat had a bad feeling about following him, but if she didn't, she might not get to see where her friends were. She sighed mentally-it was probably worth the risk. If she got into any trouble, she felt that she might be able to take him.

The door suddenly slid open and Dilandau stepped out. Kat followed. The door slid closed and Kat got a quick look around her before Dilandau grabbed her arm and drug her off. They were in a dark hall, the walls and ceiling and even floor a dark metal, there was not much light so it looked gloomy. 

Dilandau started down the hall with his hand clutching Kat's upper arm. She struggled a little so he would let up on the death grip, but it was a useless struggle. They walked for what seemed like forever to Kat, making twist and sharp turns down the connecting corridors until she was so dizzy she wasn't sure which way they were going.

Finally they came to a stop in front of a door and paused as it slid open for them. Dilandau walked in, still dragging Kat. She found that they were now in a large room with a huge golden lion statue that had a sort of cushion between the forepaws, which turned out to be a throne. Dilandau climbed the flight of stairs to the throne and fell into it, watching as about 12 different guys in the same uniform as Dilandau, only they had blue armor, came forth and surrounded Kat.

Kat took some steps back, unsure of what to do. All of the men looked like they were about to kill her, and they had swords while she had nothing. "Dalet, attack," Dilandau ordered. 

It came so suddenly that Kat barely had time to process it before a guy with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes stepped forward and drew a sword.

He lunged at her, almost catching her unaware. But the second that she felt something breeze by her arm she knew the fight was on. She knew there were just a few precious seconds before her chance would be over so she stuck her foot out. Dalet stumbled forward, trying to recover from tripping over her foot. She elbowed him in the back, sending him flying and landing on the ground in front of her. Her foot went flying and she caught him in the ribs, watching as he rolled up into a ball. 

Dilandau watched this his eyes alight with fire. He liked this girl's talent. "Gatti, Chesta, attack!" He ordered. 

A boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward with a short boy with blonde hair and bluish green eyes. They drew their swords and charged Kat.

Kat saw them coming and didn't move mostly because she was trying to figure out what they were going to do, but also because she wanted to try a move. She saw them get ready to attack when they were just seconds away, and then she jumped up high in the air just as their swords crashed against each other and whirled around. She took a hold of both their heads as they started to fall back, stunned, and whammed them together while she was in the air and then let go. They both fell back, and Kat landed, very proud that the move worked.

"Miguel, Guimel, Viole, attack!" Dilandau ordered. 

A boy with brown hair and blue eyes stepped forward along with a boy with fluffy pale blonde hair, green eyes and another boy with long dark brown hair and blue eyes. Now Kat was no black belt in any form of martial arts, but she had been a gymnast in her earlier years. She knew when she was out numbered and when to run. Right now, this was a time to run but she couldn't. I guess it's time to see if those lessons in every martial art form ever invented actually will pay off, she thought.

She allowed them to rush her. But just before one of them got to her, she rushed him, ducked under his sword, and threw herself against his stomach. He fell over with her but she was planning on this. Quick as a flash, she was up and off of him as soon as he hit the ground, making sure to stun him some more by stepping on him. Then she ran towards another who was running at her. 

This time she fell down and slid, knocking his feet out from under him and causing him to fall on his face. So baseball lessons did pay off, she thought as she stood and faced the last challenger. She waited till he was right in front of her before she jumped up in the air and kicked him in the face. He dropped his sword and fell backwards. Kat landed and picked up the sword and pointed it at his throat. 

"Enough!" Dilandau called just as Kat raised the sword over her head. 

She was pretending like she was going to deliver the final swing when really half of it was for effect. 

"Come here," Dilandau said to Kat. She looked at him and then the sword in her hands. She could take them, now that she had a weapon. Sure she had no idea how to battle sword-to-sword, but she could use a few tricks. 

That's when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw Alex and Nicole walk in, escorted by guards wearing the same outfits as the people around her. "Kat!" They both cried, seeing her. 

Kat wanted so badly to run up to them and hug them, but she saw the soldiers she had just beat start to get up. 

"Kat, look out!" Nicole cried.

"Behind you!" Alex added. 

Kat whirled around to see Dilandau charging her, sword raised. I can't take him, she thought. But in the heat of the moment, she found that she raised her sword and blocked his attack, locking their swords together. 

"Back down, now," he hissed at her, putting pressure on her sword. 

Kat could feel her arms about to break. She tried to fight back and put pressure on her sword, but she felt like it was nothing. I can't get out of this lock, she thought. There's only one thing I can do now. Instead of putting pressure on her sword, she pushed it up. Both swords went flying up in the air. Taking a chance, she kicked Dilandau so he stepped back, turned, and ran. The path was clear for a few seconds, before someone reached out and grabbed her ankle.

She went flying and hit the floor hard, stunning her. "I have her, sir!" 

"Bring her here."

Kat felt herself being yanked upwards and dragged off. She tried to fight but she was still stunned from her fall. She heard Nicole and Alex yelling something, but she couldn't make sense of it. She was held by two guards next to Dilandau as he began the same thing that he had done with her. 

She was forced to watch Nicole and Alex go through the same thing that she had done. She watched as they beat the boys with some problems. At one point, Kat was sure Nicole was going to get killed before Nicole had jumped up and dived away. 

"Enough! Bring forth the clothes," Dilandau ordered once Alex and Nicole had beaten their last guy. 

Viole disappeared and came back a minute later holding a stack of something. He walked up to Kat and offered her something off the pile. Kat took it and saw that it was pants and a white shirt. Viole then offered the same thing to Alex and Nicole, who took it. 

"You now are part of the Dragon Slayers," Dilandau said. 

Kat, Alex and Nicole all looked at him, and then at each other. "A what-a-what?" Alex asked

"With taking these," Dilandau motioned at the clothes they were holding, "you accept the duty of becoming a soldier and to help fight any enemies of Zaibach." 

Kat glanced at Alex and Nicole. They both nodded. "We don't accept," Kat said. 

Dilandau glared at them. "There is no choice of whether or not you want to become a Dragon Slayer. You are now one and you will stay one. If not, then we will simply kill you and your pathetic sisters."

"Uh, isn't there a choice C?" 

"Gatti, show them to their rooms," he ordered. 

Gatti stepped forward and Alex, Nicole and Kat all followed him reluctantly.  
  
  



	2. Rightfully Prisoners Or Slayers?

AN: This is the next chapter is a pretty good one-I spent forever working on it! With everything that's going on today I was surprised I actually finished it! Well I guess that's what you get for determination. So review and tell me what you think-anything is very helpful to the creative process! 

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters of the story of Escaflowne. If I did then you'd be seeing the story of the silver screen, not your computer screen! Oh, sweet irony how you taunt me! At least I own my own characters so no touching (without my permission of course)!

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Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is redone for you!

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Chapter 2: Rightfully Prisoners... or Slayers?

"I don't get it," Kat said as she, Alex and Nicole sat on Kat's cot. They were together in her cell making a very confused group. They had been discussing the sudden twist in their lives for the past four hours and the only good it did them was get them depressed. "Didn't Dilandau say we had just become apart of these Dragon Slayers? Then why are we back in our cell?"

"Yeah, well, at least we sort of forced them to let us stay together," Nicole replied. The girls had all run into Kat's cell when the door opened and the guards had let them. 

"Then why are we in Kat's cell?" Alex asked. 

"See? I said I didn't get it. Why aren't we in your cell?" Kat pointed out. She was rewarded by a playful hit from Nicole.

"First stop, last stop." 

"So... What do we do?" Alex asked. 

Kat shrugged. "Wait, see what we're going to be doing I guess. If nothing happens, then we escape. But if you ask me, something doesn't feel right," she replied. 

"True, I don't feel like-" the door opening cut off Nicole. 

The girls turned to see who it was but only found that there wasn't anyone there. Kat frowned as they all stood. The air didn't feel right. 

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Alex asked, taking a protective step in front of Nicole.

"Oh yeah. Someone wants to play." Kat agreed, getting ready to attack if someone entered. All was quiet for a few seconds before three spheres shot forth. They were extremely fast, so fast that there was nothing they could do to stop it. 

One hit Kat dead on, and she was sent flying through the air and hit the wall, hard. She slumped to the ground, out like a light. Nicole, partly shielded by Alex, saw what happened next in super fast speed. Alex was next to go down, with one of the lights attaching itself around her neck. 

Alex was sent flying back a little, hitting the ground and sliding. Nicole, left alone, saw the last sphere of light flying towards her. There was nothing she could do and a sphere of light attached itself to her vulnerable neck. 

Nicole fell to the ground, unconscious. Now each of the girls had one sphere of light attached to their neck. They didn't move from their positions. Suddenly, in a flash of light, the girl's eyes became distant, and their journey began.  
  
**~Kat's POV~**

I didn't know what happened. One second I was talking with my 2 best friends, the next these spheres of light come busting in and attachment themselves to our necks. I was thrown back into a wall, and didn't have time to react before blackness consumed me. 

When I opened my eyes, a whole new environment greeted me-I realized that I wasn't in my cell anymore. Instead, I was in some sort of tent lying on a cot. The tent was empty except for me. I lay there for a few minutes, letting the reality set in. 

The tent was made out of some sort of canvas, though I couldn't tell because there was no light in the tent. Listening to the outside, I realized that there were no sounds. It was totally silent. Curiosity coming over me, I slowly sat up, then stood, taking the time to make sure I hadn't broken anything. 

Good, nothing's broken, I thought as I slowly walked over to opening of the tent. I drew back the flap and stepped outside. It was dark out, seeing as it was night, but nice and warm. Strange thing was, it wasn't like any night back home. Surprised, I looked around. 

As I viewed my surroundings, a slight breeze picked up and playfully tossed my hair around my face. I quietly sighed and closed my eyes. For one second, I felt at peace. It was hard, living a life where I have to keep secrets from my best buds when they've told me everything about them. 

It was like there was a side to me that they had never seen, like I was some sort of mutant of Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde. If that didn't tear you apart, I don't know what will. But it hasn't torn me apart-yet-so I guess I'm stronger then I thought. 

Suddenly I heard a sound. I opened my eyes again and found a black-cloaked figure standing in front of me. I studied the figure, but couldn't figure out who it was. Their hood covered their face in a shadow and their body was covered by the cloak, which cleverly draped around them like a curtain so I couldn't get an exactly body measurement. 

"Who are you?" I asked, my natural curiosity getting the best of me.

I knew I should've been afraid, but fear wasn't something that I experienced very much. The figure seemed to almost smile, and then it raised a hand, its palm facing upwards, a small flame appeared in the center of its hand. 

"Come and take it," a raspy voice whispered. 

As if something was calling me, I stepped forward and reached my right hand out to the flame. I couldn't stop myself; I was at the hands of this person. I gently touched the flame. 

As soon as I did, a howling wind picked up and wrapped around me. I could feel the flame, still warm against my touch. I felt the warmth spreading up from my fingertip to the rest of my body. I closed my eyes as the howling off the wind echoed in my ears. "Dark side of the moon, I call upon thy powers. Make your child come alive with your magic in her veins. Child of the Dark Moon, do you accept?" It whispered. 

"I do," I replied, my voice strong. 

The wind died down slowly and I opened my eyes when I couldn't hear it anymore. The cloaked figure had disappeared, and I wasn't by the tent anymore. I was in a clearing, bathed in the silvery moonlight. Confused, I looked up at the moon… and gasped at what I saw. Instead of a full moon, there was only the faintest outline of the silvery orb, and a black one in its place. An eclipse like nothing I have ever seen.

As I stared at the moon, and I didn't even notice the thin, black straps twisting their way around my body. I continued to stare at the moon until the warmth that I had felt left me. I looked down to find myself in a whole new outfit. 

I was wearing tall under-the-knee black boots, a black sleeveless leotard with a low back, a black mid-thigh mini skirt, over-the-elbow black gloves and a black choker. On the choker was the outline of a moon in silver, and I noticed that I had silver markings on my face. My long hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and the ponytail was braided and tied off at the end with a silver ring.

I blinked, and looked up as I heard a rustle in the grass. The cloaked figure had appeared again. It reached out to me, as if beckoning me closer. But I noticed that it had its palm facing me, and a dark light was forming in the center of the palm. Then, without warning, blackness consumed me once again.  


  
**~Nicole's POV~**

My head pounded as I opened my eyes. I don't know what I expected, but what I found was that I was in a whole new room. This room had a balcony with French Glass Double doors over to my left and a four-poster bed, which I was laying on. There was a fancy desk to my right, with a plush chair and fancy looking papers scattered all over it. 

I slowly sat up, trying to ignore my pounding head. I hated when I had headaches, it made my thinking all scattered. Well, there's nothing I can really do now, I thought. I slid my legs over to the side of the bed and stood up. I should probably see if someone is here. 

Looking around, I found that besides the balcony, bed, and desk, the room was empty. Strangely, it brought back memories of my old room at home. I never was much of a pack rat or a decorator; those were both Alex and Kat's attitudes. I was more known for my brain and strategic thinking. Maybe it was because my parents wanted me to get into an IV League school and get a good job. All I really knew was that deep down I didn't want to be the one everyone looked to for homework or answers. 

Walking over to the desk, I looked at the papers, careful not to touch them. I didn't know what they were for, but something caught my attention on them. There was a crest of some kind on all of them. It had a "D" and what looked like a Gryffin holding it. 

I shrugged and decided to move some of the papers mostly because I saw something under them. There was make-up all over the desk, all in my favorite colors. I frowned, how did someone know what colors of make-up I liked? Who's room was this?

I whirled around, expecting to see someone standing behind me glaring. There wasn't anyone behind me, but I couldn't help but feel on edge. Just then I heard a sound behind me so I whirled towards the balcony. There, in front of me, was a black-cloaked figure. I blinked twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things. But when the figure didn't disappear, I became a little afraid.

"Who... Who are you? What do you want?" I asked in a quiet voice. Silently I yelled at myself, Alex or Kat wouldn't be afraid of someone like this. I wished that I had their courage sometimes. 

The figure didn't reply, but simply stretched out its hand. I noticed that its palm was facing upwards. Then a small flame appeared in the center of its hand. I looked on in awe and took a step forward towards the figure. As I watched the flame, I was overcome with the urge to reach out and touch the flame-I did. 

As my fingers gently caressed the flame, a wind blew, or through, open the balcony doors and swirled around me. Even through the wind I felt the flame's warmth. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth spread throughout my body. I felt a little light headed but remained still. 

"Child of Earth, do you accept your duty and challenge?" It seemed to whisper. 

"I do," I replied quietly. 

The howling wind began to slowly die down until everything was quiet. I opened my eyes and was relieved to find that I was still in the same room that I woke up in. Looking over to the balcony doors I stared out them and into the night. 

I didn't hear, feel or see the violet ribbons entwining themselves around my body until the warmth from my body suddenly left. I looked down, curious as to why it left and softly gasped at what I saw. Instead of my clothes, I was wearing purple ankle boots, purple long sleeved, mid-thigh dress and a purple headband. 

I had on a pendent with a purple circle with a crystal in the center hanging from my neck. I looked up finding that the black-cloaked figure had returned. Just as I opened my mouth to ask it something, I noticed that it had its hand stretched towards me, palm facing me, a dark thing swirling in the center of the palm. I barely had time to give a short, quiet scream before everything went black.  


  
**~Alex's POV~**

When I finally opened my eyes I found that I was in a new room. Of course I had been lying there for a while, I was just enjoying the quiet. After living in a family of eight, you began to welcome the quiet. 

I sat up straight and found that I saw lying in a double bed. Curious, I began to look around. It was a simple room, wood floors and light green walls. There was an old wooden desk to my right, a nightstand to my left, a dresser across from my bed, and a couple nice, big windows and 2 doors. 

I swung my legs to the edge of the bed and stood up, walking over to the desk. I was nothing like Nicole; I didn't care what others thought about going through their stuff. To me, there was only information that was important to know. I saw that there were important looking papers all over the desk, all with the emblem "D" and a Gryffin holding it. 

I shrugged, picking them up and looking through them. They were written in strange symbols that I couldn't decipher. It annoyed me greatly-I wanted to know what they said. Bored, I put the papers back on the desk and turned around.

Except I only found a black-cloaked figure standing in front of me. Who's that? I wondered. I hope he didn't see me shifting through the paper. Well, even if he did I can just tell him that I couldn't read what they said. 

The figure stretched out its hand to me, palm upwards. A small flame erupted from the center of its palm. I stared at the flame, and then took a step forward. What am I doing? I wondered as I reached out, trying to touch the flame. I don't want to touch that, I don't even know who this creep is!

But it seemed that I had other ideas. I kept reaching out until I finally touched the flame. Unopened windows suddenly burst open and a howling wind swept in, whirling around me. Through the wind, I was amazed to see that the flame had not gone out-a warmth seemed to be coming off it, flowing right through me. 

I closed my eyes-the warmth luring me almost to sleep. 

"Child of Elements, do you accept your duty and your future?" The wind whispered in my ear. 

"Yes, I do," I replied easily. 

Upon saying that, the wind slowly died down. I stood there, eyes still close, enjoying the warmth of the flame. I didn't even notice the light green tentacles wrapped themselves around me. But when suddenly the warmth I had felt flowing through me creased, I opened my eyes. 

I looked down and almost fainted at what I saw. I was wearing over-the-knee dark green boots, a mid-thigh dark green skirt, and a dark green one sleeved shirt with over-the-elbow dark green gloves. I looked at my hand and flexed it. I heard a sound in front of me and I looked up.

The cloaked person was back from wherever it was it had disappeared to. Or was it always there? 

Then I noticed that again it had its arm stretched out toward me, only this time its palm was facing me and there was something black forming in the center of its palm. I barely even noticed the black thing launching itself from its master's palm. It hit me, and blackness enveloped me before I could even blink.  
  
  
  


"Agh," Kat muttered as she slowly came to. Her memory came flooding back and she bolted up into a sitting position, looking around. She noticed that Alex and Nicole were sitting on her cot while she was on the floor, against the wall. "Hey," she said as she stood up, immediately wishing she hadn't because of the pounding headache she suddenly remembered she had. 

Weird... clothes, she thought, taking in their new clothes. Alex was wearing over-the-knee dark green boots, a mid-thigh dark green skirt, and a dark green one sleeved shirt with over-the-elbow dark green gloves. 

Nicole was wearing purple ankle boots, purple long sleeved, mid-thigh dress and a purple headband. She also had on silver chain with a pendent with a purple circle with a crystal in the center hanging from her neck. 

Alex and Nicole turned and looked at Kat. They both had surprised looks on their faces. Confused, Kat looked down… and gasped. She was wearing tall under-the-knee black boots, a black sleeveless leotard with a low back, a black mid-thigh mini skirt, over-the-elbow black gloves and a black choker. 

On the choker was the outline of a moon in silver and she had silver markings on her face. Her long hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and the ponytail was braided and tied off at the end with a silver ring. This was not what she had been wearing before.

"What... What… What…" Kat tried to say, surprised. But it was more like awestruck. Her outfit was both beautiful and intimidating at the same time.

"What happened?" Alex provided. 

Kat nodded. 

Nicole shrugged. "That's what we were trying to find out when you came too," she replied. 

Kat just walked over to Alex, who was sitting on the end of the bed, and sort of collapsed onto the cot. "I need to sit down," she muttered. If someone had touched her in that way… Just as Alex opened her mouth to say something, the door to Kat's cell burst open.

Dilandau and three Slayers walked in. "Oh, glad to see you care!" Alex said sarcastically.

Dilandau quirked an eyebrow at her-he was definitely confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked with a nasty tone. 

"You know perfectly well what we're talking about!" Kat replied with enough venom to kill a person in a second. She was apparently over her awestruck spell. Of course it was him! She thought. "You did something to change us. To make us have weird dreams-to top it off you changed our clothes while we were out, you perverts!" 

"What?" A Slayer asked surprised. A smack from Dilandau and a deadly glare from Kat rewarded him. 

"I really have no idea what you are talking about," Dilandau said as calmly as he could through clenched teeth. 

Kat glared at Dilandau. She had seen in his eyes that he really didn't know what she was talking about.

"Maybe it would help if you could take us to your commander," Nicole suggested. She was trying to stop the blood bath that was about to happen.

"Before Kat goes rabid on you." Alex added.

Dilandau looked at the girls, giving each a long glare. Finally he stepped aside and Kat started to walk out of the room, before a Slayer grabbed her. "Escorts," Dilandau said evilly. 

Kat just glared at him but went peacefully, as did Nicole and Alex.

Dilandau glanced around the room before he walked out of it.  



	3. The Right to Information

AN:  Well I'm back with the third chapter!  What do y'all think of it so far?  I think I spent like 20 hours just re-editing this (I honestly don't have that much time so thank large amounts of Diet Cherry 7-Up and Diet Coke for the wee morning work and ketchup for the inspiration… don't ask about that one).  Right now my brain is dead so… uh…. R **looks for stupid addition symbol, finds it** R+R+R=Read, Review, and Rave!  Uhgh… too much Diet Coke, right?  **everyone nods** All right, just read okay?  Thanks!    

Disclaimer: Anything beyond this point is MINE.  Okay… so CrimsonFire isn't mine… Dilandau and his Slayers aren't mine… the Escaflowne cast isn't mine… All right, so everything EXCEPT the Protectors and made up Slayers and characters aren't mine!  Don't sue!  But seriously, the characters you don't find in the series are mine so ask before you borrow!

**Three Girls**

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling.  CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in.  So this one is redone for you!

**Chapter 3: The Right to Information**

It's too dark, Kat decided as she sat in a dark room in a plush dark blue chair.  Not only was the room dark but it had darkly painted walls and a dark colored metal floor.  There was nothing in it except for the chair and couch that she, Alex, and Nicole were sitting in and a couple of empty bookshelves.  It was boring and Kat couldn't help but twitch a little as they waited for Dilandau to return with this person they were supposed to talk to.

She looked over at Alex and Nicole, who were sitting in a plush blue couch across from her, each friend staring at each other with unreadable emotions on their faces.  At least, that's what it looked like to anyone who didn't know them-to each other they knew how they were feeling. 

When I get my hands on the bastard that changed me, Kat thought, ready to rip some heads off.  But the door sliding open broke off her thoughts.  The three friends watched as a tall, bluish green haired man walked in with Dilandau.  They each gave each other a look-was this guy for real?  The man had stern gray blue eyes and a teardrop tattoo under his right eye.  He wore a long black cape that covered his whole body, which gracefully flowed around him as he walked. 

"Mr. Folken, I assume?"  Nicole asked pleasantly. 

Alex and Kat had to stifle laughter.  It was just like Nicole to be the polite one in the group.  If it were left to Alex and Kat, they would've probably been killed by now for doing something extremely outrageous.  I guess that's why we have Nicole, to keep our heads level, Alex thought. 

"Yes.  I hear that you wanted to see me?"  The man, Folken, asked in an even tone. 

"Yeah, it's about your little men… Man… Whoever, here," Kat said, gesturing to Dilandau.  She ignored the scowl she received from him. 

"We want to know what you ordered them to do to us," Alex demanded. 

Folken looked taken aback for a second as if the mere mention of him ordering Dilandau to do something was a new concept.  But he quickly regained his composure and looked straight at all of them.

"I, Miss, do not order them around.  Dilandau is in charge of his troops and I only give them orders when the Emperor employs me too.  But from what Dilandau tells me about this complaint you have is that you and your sisters have been alone since he had a Slayer drop you off in your cell," he replied calmly. 

"But... What about the lights?  The change of clothes?"  Alex asked, totally surprised. 

"I have noticed your sudden change of clothes, but I do not know how you got them.  About the lights you mentioned, I have no idea what you are talking about," he answered. 

"Kat, you mentioned something about dreams earlier, am I correct?" Nicole asked desperately searching for some explanation.  Kat had been muttering something about "stupid dreams" as they had been walked up to the room. 

Kat averted her gaze from Folken, whom she had been glaring at, to Nicole.  "Yes my dear, you are correct in every sense of the word," she said, putting on a fake accent.  It was a joke that they shared with Nicole about her proper vocabulary.  "May I inquire whether you or Alexandra had a particularly… Obtrusive dream with a black cloaked figure, a flame, and a gust of wind followed a voice?" 

Nicole giggled.  "Yeah, we did, and since you know what happened, I'm assuming you had one too.  Maybe our dreams have something to do with our sudden change of clothes." 

"Makes sense," Alex said, catching Kat's eye.  They knew that that was a reasonable theory. 

"Yeah, it does.  But that doesn't make up for the lights.  I still got an ache from those," Kat replied, rubbing her neck. 

"Lights?" Folken asked, butting into the conversation.  The girls looked at him, surprised at his sudden impolite intrusion. 

"Well, we were sitting in Kat's cell, talking, when suddenly the door was opened.  Three spheres of light came in and attacked.  Two of them attached themselves to Alex's and my neck, and Kat got hit by one," Nicole explained.

"Sure, go for the short and uninteresting version," Alex mumbled, leaning back.  Alex always wanted the more adventurous explanation. 

Kat looked thoughtful and Alex noticed.  She wasn't one to miss out on something like that.  She glanced over at Nicole, who had also noticed.  "I will certainly look into the lights.  If that is all-" Folken started, but was cut off. 

"Don't leave yet, Folken.  I've got another question for you," Kat said suddenly. 

Folken glared at her, like leaving this room was the better option for him and he hated her for forcing him to stay. 

"Dilandau said that we're a part of these Dragon Slayers.  Yet we haven't received new quarters, clothes or even been remotely treated like a soldier.  Care to explain?"  

Folken narrowed his eyes and glared at Kat.  "That is for my knowing only," he stated coldly. 

Kat arched an eyebrow at this. 

Oh no, he's got her attention.  She's got the scent of a challenge, Alex thought.  

"Why is that?  Is there something we should know?  Or are you just ashamed of hiring three girls?"  Kat asked, sitting up straight and putting some irony into her tone. 

Nicole and Alex both groaned.  There was no stopping her now. 

Folken studied Kat for a second, and then slowly replied.  "The reason is not for you to know, not yet.  We can not allow you to start training until we have a better idea of your pasts."

Kat paled a little at this. 

What's wrong with Kat?  I know that she didn't have a happy past, but then neither did Nicole and I don't see Nicole looking pale, Alex thought as she cast a side-glance at Nicole, seeing her friend perfectly calm.  What is Kat hiding?

"All I can do for you now will be to give you three adjoining rooms.  Take that and wait until I decide that I can tell you more information later," Folken said. 

Kat had now regained her lost color and stood up.  She wasn't going to back down from this challenge.  She would find out what Folken was hiding, even if it meant she had her life on the line.  No one dug into her past without a good reason.  "Fine with us," she said coldly.  "But I warn you, Folken, don't go messing around in things you can't control.  It'll come back to bite you later."  

She walked over to the door and it opened.  The guards grabbed her along with Alex and Nicole.  They began to drag them outside, back to their cells, but Kat wasn't going to leave like that.  Just before the door closed, Kat popped her head back in.  

"Oh, Folken, here's a tip for you.  Don't mess with me," she said.  

With that she left.

Once Alex, Nicole and Kat were all escorted back to their separate cells, and each had 2 guards for the night, each girl began to wonder.  Why was Kat looking so scared at the mention of pasts?  What's going happen to us?  Alex wondered as she drifted off to sleep. 

I wonder why Kat was looking... Er, not so happy when Folken mentioned finding out about our pasts.  I wonder how he's going do it.  When are we going to get new clothes?  I can't stand this outfit anymore!  Nicole wondered right before she fell asleep.

They can't find out about my past, no matter what.  I have to protect Alex and Nicole.  I can't let anything happen to them, not now, and not ever, Kat thought as she drifted off into a very uneasy sleep.  
  
  
  
  



	4. Escape into Night

AN:  So are we having troubles now with this story?  Kat is hiding secrets from Nicole and Alex and Folken is holding out on them… what could it mean?  What's going on with everyone?  I know the last chapter was short so this one should make up for that.  Who knows maybe something will happen… With who you ask?  I'm not telling!  R+R please! 

Disclaimer:  **sniffles as CrimsonFire hands her a tissue**  

This is so sad!  

**blows nose**  

**realizes that the "tissue" was the deed to Escaflowne**  

NO!  

**CrimsonFire points to the crumpled piece of paper next to ShadowKat's feet**  

Oh… 

**picks it up**  

My deed to my characters!  Yay!  I DO own something in this story!  Don't use them without my permission!

**Three Girls**

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling.  CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in.  So this one is done for you!

**Chapter 4: Escape into the Night**

The dream came to her again.  It was a twisted dream, one that she could not get out of her head or ignore.  It was one she could not examine, pull apart and test each part.  This was a dream that came from the core of her psyche, the thing that no one ever understood.  

She would toss and turn, aware of every movement her body made, but at the same time, she was submerged in a darkness so thick it was like she was swimming in water.  There was no escaping it.  It only pushed in on her, harder and harder until she wanted to scream.  But if she did, then she would surely perish.  

Something told her that the darkness was only there to press in on her, to try and release something.  If she would only give into it everything would be all right.  If she would only trust it… No, no she couldn't.  She told herself that every day.

Everywhere she looked she saw trust.  It broke her heart, watching as everyone put their lives in the hands of someone who probably wouldn't even care if they were mortally wounded.  Trust had been something she had to learn, but his leaving broke that.  Every night when she closed her eyes she could see him walking away.

Yet here she was, trusting.  Was it irony that mocked her or just her own stupidity?  She couldn't tell.  She had spent the last ten years of her life saying that trust was something you could live without, yet here she was, living a life where trust was the most important thing to her.  Irony?  No, it was more along the lines of mockery.

The water asked her to trust; she refused.  The dream asked her to trust; she refused.  But when they asked her to trust, she accepted.  Why?  Why was it that they were always there, asking her to trust, but when something else asked her to trust she wouldn't.  

Because you know they care about you, something told her.  Yes, it was something from the inside.  Something she had always trusted even though she thought it was leading her astray.  Her heart told her that when she loved she would trust.  Whoever didn't accept that was a moron.  However, the dream came hurtling back, tearing at her, begging her to trust it.

A message from her psyche, a message from her very core.  How could she not trust it?  Wasn't it a part of her too?  Wasn't her heart and her core the very same?  Maybe it was… And she just wasn't seeing it.

"I am so bored!"  Alex groaned as she flopped onto her cot.  She moaned, forgetting that there was only hay under her.  "Stupid."  

They had been locked up in their cells for over three days now.  Their promised adjoining rooms now a joke.  They should've known that someone who they had never met before would cheat them.  That was something a kid would've known.

Staring up at the ceiling, she wondered how Nicole and Kat were doing.   She hadn't spoken to them in three days, except for when she could hear them when her guard was delivering her meal.  I have to tell the cook that he can sure prepare a .5 star meal, she thought sarcastically, remembering the slush that they were served three times a day.

She raised her hand and snapped her fingers.  A small flame appeared, floating barely a millimeter from her finger.  Strangely, she didn't feel the heat of its flame or was burned by it.  Making it dance, she watched at the colors of the flame seemed to mix together and separate.  After they had spent most of the time locked in their cells, with nothing to do but think and stare at the wall, anything was better then being homesick and miserable.  

Alex wondered when she had been able to do this little fire trick.  It seemed like years and years ago when in reality, it was only two days ago.  She had just woken up and was stretching when she had looked down to see her hand on fire.  Screaming, she tried to put it out but it wouldn't go out.  That's when she realized that she couldn't feel it burning her.

Confused, she had reached out with her other hand and touched the flame.  It didn't burn.  She continued to stare at it, completely amazed, until a single thought crossed her mind: blow it out.  With that, the flame had gone out without a trace.  She was sort of disappointed, wondering where it had gone.

That's when she began to think.  Why would her hand mysteriously catch fire?  Why couldn't she feel the flame?  Those made her think and think, and think some more.  She thought until finally she decided to try again.  Focusing on her fingers, she began to wish hard for a flame.

At first the flame came slowly, beginning as just barely a spark but then growing.  Soon she could make it as tall as she was.  With jut the tiniest thought, she could make multiple flames appear.  

I wonder how Nicole and Kat will react when they find out about this?   She thought as she stared at her hand.  Nicole will probably want to dissect me and Kat will probably be all hysterical, saying why couldn't she do that.  Oh, I wish I could see them.

But what she didn't know was that the same exact thought was going through Nicole's head.  She, too, had woken up with a strange ability.  Nicole had rolled out of bed late, an unusual occurrence for her.  She was usually the early riser.  

Moaning as her feet hit the ground, she reached up to rub her face when she discovered that a ribbon was around her hand.  She gasped, staring at it, dumbfounded.  It wasn't like she could just shake it off.  It was actually _attached_ to her hand.  It seemed to come straight from her nails.  She stared at it before becoming scared.

"Oh my… Oh my…" she whispered as she began to pace around the room, staring at her hand as if it was some sort of monster.  "What's wrong with me?"  She paced and paced for hours, careful not to move her hand.  Who knew what this ribbon thing could do?  

After hours of pacing, she began to get short-tempered.  "Stupid thing, come off!"  She cried, swinging her hand in a random direction.  She watched as the ribbon went flying out and snapped at a wall, taking out a chunk of it.  Shocked, she had stared at it.

"Wow," was the only word that came to her mind.  She had sat there and stared at the damage she had done.  She stared at it until finally a determination came over her.  This was a test of some sort, and she would ace it.  That's when the practice began.  Within hours she had figured out how to manipulate the ribbons, seemingly to be made of some sort of light, into whatever she wanted using thought. 

"How cool?"  She said, making the ribbons disappear.  "But why do I have this?  What about Alex and Kat?  Do they have the same ribbon effect?"  She turned and stared at the wall that Kat's cell shared.  "How are they doing?"

On the other side of the wall, Kat was no holding up well.  There were many holes in the wall, all of which she had done.  She had figured out that if she got really angry then she could create a dark colored transparent ball of something, that surged with black electricity, around her fist and that it could do some major damage.  Now she was trying to figure out how to make that same effect happen when she wasn't angry.

"Stupid walls.  Why can't you just crumble away?"  She asked, sitting across the room and glaring at the opposite wall.  She was going stir crazy in the small cell and she wanted out.  "Stupid black thing, why can't you blast it away?"  She said, glaring at her hands.  Slouching back, she sighed and suddenly felt really stupid.

This is probably not going to work, but hey, no one is looking… She glanced around, confirming her thought.  "Okay, here it goes," she said, and stuck her hand out.  Nothing happened.  Now I feel really stupid, she thought, dropping her hand.  I've gotten control of the whole anger equals black thing, but why won't it work without anger?

She glanced at the wall and waved her hand at it.  "Go away, you're annoying me," she told it.  Suddenly a black thing shot out of her hand and blew away the wall.  "Whoa.  Okay, I wish for a million dollars," she said after the shock of what had happened disappeared.  She waited but nothing happened.  

"Okay fine, only work with the black thing."  She stood and ran over to the hole, gently stepping through it and into the next cell.  "Kat!"  Nicole cried, running up and hugging her.  "Was that you?"  She asked, stepping back.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Oh, that was so cool!  The wall just blew away!"

"Yeah, enough talk.  Let's get Alex and high jack it out of here!"  She pointed at the other wall and another beam shot out and blew away the wall.  Together she and Nicole ran through the wall and came across Alex, her hand on fire.  

"Oh my God, Alex, your hand!"  Nicole cried, pointing.  

"Uh, it's normal?"  Alex offered, shrugging helplessly.  

"Really?  Talk later, let's go!"  Kat said, blowing away the door.     

"I take it you've done this before," Alex said as she jumped out of her room and into the hall.  Nicole and Kat followed. 

Outside, the trio looked around the hall.  It was empty, the seats of the guards had been taken away and there wasn't a soul in sight.  The corridor was completely empty and dark.   "Um, is this a good sign?"  Alex asked, getting nervous.  She didn't like the feeling she was getting.  It was like they were almost expecting them to do something like this. 

"No, it's not.  But who knows?  It could be a blessing in disguise," Nicole agreed as she started down the hall.  

"Always the optimistic one," Kat said, following her, trailed by Alex.  

As they walked, they tried to retrace their steps that they had taken the day they had met Folken.  Unfortunately all that happened was a lot of disagreement and guesswork.  "I don't think this is right," Alex said as they walked down a corridor, their footsteps echoing eerily.  It didn't feel right to her at all.  

"It has to be.  Look, there's a stairwell just up ahead.  If we take it, it might lead us somewhere!"  Kat said, pointing up ahead.  

True to her word, there was a stairwell just ahead of them, darkened by the shadows that covered the steps but seemingly harmless.  They approached the staircase, not know that it lead up to the normal levels, and started to climb it.  

Their footsteps were silent and precise as they climbed the stairs.  Years of experience of climbing Alex's creaky stairs in her house had made them experts at sneaking up or down stairs.  Every couple of feet they checked for any sign of guards that might be hanging around. So far, there was none.

They didn't know where everyone was but they were still being careful.  There was no need to get caught so easily.  Finally the stairs flattened out to a plateau for a few feet but then continued upwards.  Kat slipped over to the corner of the open doorway and peeked her head out.  There was no one around.  Motioning that it was safe for them to come out, together they sneaked into the hall and took refuge in the shadows.  

The halls weren't different from the prison's they found out.  They were still the same cold, dull metal.  As they made their way down the hall, they realized that every hall was the same.  "Oh great, just what we need.  A designer who likes to confuse possible escapees," Alex muttered as they walked in the shadows. 

They walked for a while, the halls desolate and quite depressing, until they saw a door at the end of the wall.  After a quick look around to make sure they were alone they hurried over to the door and opened it, entering the room.  The site that met them made their mouths drop open. 

They were in a huge room made of the same metal that the halls were, but lighted with powerful florescent lights.  It was fairly empty except for the 13 huge machines standing in a row, all of them blue and black-except for one, which was red and black.  There were carts and what looked like spare parts for the giant machines littered around the room, but the actually path to the machines were clear of any items.  "Wow," Alex breathed. 

"Yeah," Nicole agreed. 

"Big," Kat said.  They continued to stare at the huge machines before Nicole snapped to.  "Ok, so now what?"  She asked, bringing the other 2 out from their trances. 

"Besides the huge things that look like Gundams, I say we escape, find a _nice_ town and ask how to get back to Earth," Alex suggested. 

"Yeah," Kat agreed. 

Nicole looked at her friend for a second, trying to read what she was feeling, and failing, before nodding her agreement. 

"Ok, so let's go!"  Alex said as she started to run towards the huge open hanger doors at the end of the room.  It was too convenient, thought Nicole as she and Kat followed Alex, slightly behind.  What is going on?

They had just gotten through the line of huge, majestic machines-which were placed in the center of the room-when they heard a voice.  "WHAT ARE THEY DOING OUT OF THEIR CELLS?!  GET THEM!"  It roared with unbelievable anger. 

Kat was the first to recognize the voice.  She didn't even have to look back before she got a mental image of the voice's owner's face.  "It's Dilandau! Hurry up!"  She called over to Alex.  "Nicole, you can sprint.  Go up and run with Alex.  I'll try to hold them off.  Go!"  

She slowed down a little.

"But-" Nicole started.  

Kat pushed her, urging her to go.  

Nicole sped up and was soon next to Alex, running.  As Kat ran, she noticed that the doors to the outside were starting to close.  "Hurry! Run!"  She cried to the others. 

Luckily her cry alerted Nicole and Alex to what was happening, ever so fast, and they sprinted towards the door like they were competing in a marathon and it was the last leg of the trip.  They were only a couple feet away from it when suddenly Kat went flying and landed hard on the floor.  She rolled onto her side as a sword came crashing down where she would've been.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicole stop just as she reached the door, which was now almost totally closed.  She saw Alex dive under the closing door and disappeared.  "GO! GO!" Kat cried at Nicole. 

Nicole took one last look at her friend before she dived under the door. J ust as she did, the door closed, securing their safety.  Kat got up to her feet and turned to meet her opponent.  She was surprised to see that her former attacker was on the floor with a red mark on his face, in the shape of a hand.  

That could only mean one thing, she thought, seeing Dilandau standing in front of her.  She didn't have time to do anything before the flat of his sword came in and hit her in the temple, causing her to black out.  As Kat's body went limp and started to fall to the ground, Dilandau reached out and caught her. 

He quickly sheathed his sword and then picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder like she was dead weight.  He turned around and glared at the boy on the floor, and then walked towards the door and left the room.   
  
  



	5. Nature to Destroy

Disclaimer:  Hm… **lawyer glares at her**  All right!  All right!  I give!  I don't own anything that's in this story that is or relates to Escaflowne, Bandai owns that.  **looks at lawyer, lawyer nods** But I do own my characters that aren't in the Escaflowne story line!

AN:  I've moved the author's notes to the end of the story.

**Three Girls**

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling.  CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in.  So this one is done for you!

**Chapter 5: Nature to Destroy**

"This is what you call dinner?" Alex asked.  She looked up at Nicole, who was sitting next to her.  They were surrounded by unforgiving forest, the trees limbs intertwining creating a thick canopy above their heads and dark shadows all around them.   

Nicole shrugged.  "Best I could find.  It's not like there's a BK around here," she replied.  

Alex chuckled. 

It had been a week since they had escaped Zaibach, with the loss of Kat.   "I wonder how she's holding up," Alex sighed, looking up at the darkening sky that she could make out through the harsh canopy. 

"I'm sure she's fine.  Kat has always been a fighter.  We can find someone to help us rescue her once we get to the town that those travelers told us about," Nicole replied confidently, referring to the travelers that they had managed to catch a ride with a day ago. 

Alex nodded.  "Yeah.  You think that this Hitomi will help us?"  She asked. 

Nicole shrugged again.  "Who knows until we try?  But if the rumors are true, and she is from Earth, then chances are we can count on her," she said.  Alex looked at her small bowl of soup.  She stirred it around absentmindedly. 

"Come on, let's get some sleep," Nicole suggested, trying to comfort her friend.  She knew that Alex was worried about Kat.  She and Alex had always had a special bond between them, even before Nicole had come along.  

Alex nodded and they emptied their dishes in the bushes and laid down a little ways from the fire.

The next day Nicole and Alex started out early.  "How... Much... Longer?" Alex asked, gasping for breath.  She wasn't into walking as Nicole and Kat were.  Physical Education pretty much killed her.  She was more into the threats and action, not the physical act of doing something.  

Nicole laughed as they came to the top of the hill they were climbing.  She pointed out into the distance.  "We're here," she replied. 

Alex looked at where Nicole was pointing and saw a huge city tucked into a canyon made by some mountains.  The north side of the city had a huge wall, and it took all of Alex's effort to not gasp at the gold embedded into it. "Pretty," she breathed. 

Nicole nodded and started down the hill.  Alex followed her, and within 15 minutes they were inside the city. 

"I'll let you handle the formalities," Alex whispered to Nicole as what looked like a soldier approached them.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" Nicole asked, stopping a man in gold armor and wielding a sword.  

Man, she doesn't miss a beat, Alex thought, impressed. 

The man looked down at them, a disgusted look on his face.  "Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but my friend and I have just arrived here and we need to see the Queen.  Could you point us in the way to the castle?"  Nicole continued, not seeing the look she was receiving.

The man looked Nicole over carefully, and then nodded.  He pointed down a long, straight street that led up to a huge castle.  "Well, duh!"  Alex said as she and Nicole started down the street, making sure they were out of earshot from the guard.  "I can't believe we missed such an obvious marker."  

They got into the castle easily, considering that the Queen was totally free and that Nicole was doing the talking.  The girl really had a talent for doing talking.  A guard led them into a garden where the Queen was seated on a bench by a fountain in the middle of it. 

Alex and Nicole stared at the Queen, a little amazed.  She was pretty with shoulder length light brown hair and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a white gown that just barely touched the ground.  "Hello, can I help you?" She asked, looking at them. 

"Uh... Yeah… We're from Earth and we need your help," Alex said, not sure of how to phrase what she and Nicole wanted.  She wasn't as good as turning a phrase as Nicole was.  

The Queen got to her feet and walked over to Nicole and Alex.  "Hitomi Kanzaki Fanel, please, come with me, and we'll see what we can do for you," she said, a hint of excitement showing in her eyes and voice. 

She led Nicole and Alex into the castle.  Once inside, Hitomi led them on a fast paced tour, barely letting them gaze as they went up some staircases and down beautifully decorated halls.  She reached a door and opened it, revealing a beautiful room.  The room had a hardwood floor with light blue walls, pictures of various things hanging off of the walls. 

There were bookcases on one side of the wall, and some light blue chairs in the middle of the room.  Hitomi sat down in one of the chairs, so Nicole and Alex sat across from her.  "Ok, so tell me... how'd you get here?"  Hitomi asked. 

Alex looked at Nicole.  "You better explain it," she said. 

Nicole nodded and started to tell Hitomi how they had gotten here.   
  
  
  


Kat slowly opened her eyes for what seemed to be the billionth time.  She knew that she was back in her cell, again.  She had tried to escape before, about a billion times it seemed, like some warped out horror fiction movie that keeps replaying the same bad ending; her last attempt at escape had ended up walking right into the Slayer's Recreation Room.  "How stupid was that?"  She muttered to herself as she sat up, remembering the scene.  She had stood there in front of twelve, armed Dragon Slayers and had gotten beat.  

She let her eyes adjust to the dim light before she stood up.  She knew what she was going to do next.  Escape.  She walked over to the door and pressed her ear against the cold metal.   "I can't believe she keeps trying to escape.  I bet she's not smart enough to know that the only way off the Vione is either to become a Dragon Slayer or be killed," a snooty voice said. 

Kat bit her lip.  She knew that voice, it belonged to Dilandau's favorite lackey, Miguel.  Miguel had brown hair and blue eyes, sort of tall, and had an attitude to match an elephant's butt. 

"She knows.  But what I don't get is that Lord Dilandau said that she and those other 2 girls were Slayers, but why doesn't he let them... or her, come to training?  Why does he keep her in her cell?"  Another voice asked. 

Kat frowned.  This voice was new.  She hadn't heard it before.  It had a soft touch to it, so soft and gentle it reminded her of… No, I can't think of him, she thought, wincing at the memory.  Again she tucked it back inside her psyche, hidden deep inside of the dark crevasses of her mind.  She knew that the voice's owner didn't like harassment or trouble and would rather avoid any friction. 

"Aw, Chesta, you're such an idiot," Miguel's voice said.  

Chesta, so that's his name.  Next time I escape I'll have to catch a look at him, Kat thought.  Suddenly an idea came to her.  Let's see, Dilandau should be coming any second to check up on them.   Since he usually does every hour, she thought. 

As if on cue, she heard a new voice.  "What are you doing?"  Dilandau's voice asked.  

Kat grinned as a ball of energy formed in her hand.  She backed up a little and then threw it like a baseball at the door.  The door popped out of its frame like a can of shaken soda exploding. 

Kat stepped out into the hall and grinned evilly at Dilandau, the shavings of the wood frame creating a thick layer of dust, which spiraled all around her as she stood in front of him.  "Escaping," she said.  

She then created another layer of dust by firing a blast at a wall and ran like heck. She had just gotten to the staircase when she was suddenly on the ground, with someone on top of her.  She growled in annoyance and flipped the person onto his back by twisting her body beneath him and trapped him underneath her.  

She gave the person a few good punches in the face and then got to her feet quickly.  Before she began running again she saw that the person who had knocked her down was Miguel.  Heh, pay back, she thought.  

She started to run but then got another idea.  She turned back and while Miguel was still down she grabbed his sword from its sheath and then ran up the stairs.  She ran until she came to the same corridor she, Alex and Nicole had used to escape the first time and began to run down it.  Got to get out of here.  Got to find the hanger, she thought as she turned down another corridor.  

Working from memory she ran straight down it, her heart pounding in her ears.  She quickly checked over her shoulder and found no one behind her.  She smiled and started to turn back when she found that there was something in front of her.   Before she could react, she ran into the thing and fell onto her butt. 

Recovering from the collision, she looked up and found that she was staring up at Dilandau.   He glared down at her, his crimson eyes ablaze and sword drawn.   "Damn," she whispered, "my day can't get any worse."  

"Well, well, well, haven't you been a busy kitty?"  He smirked.  He bent down and grabbed her by the upper arm roughly pulling her to her feet.  "I've had enough of you.  Time to go see the vet," he said as he began to pull her down the corridors. 

Kat struggled against him the whole time he pulled her but no matter what she tried he had a counter move.  The corridors began to twist and turn more often and the lighting was beginning to go down.  Soon they were practically walking in the blackness of the night with the corridors still twisting about.  

An internal fear leapt up in Kat as she was pulled farther down the corridor.  The darkness seemed to reach out to her, trying to pull her back into its embrace.  That fear pumped through her veins and made her heart leap, her body now shaking with the fear of the dark.  "Let me go!"  She cried as Dilandau dragged her into a room.  

In response, he threw her into a chair that was in the room.  Kat stumbled and tripped, falling back into the chair and causing it to rock back on its hind legs.  Dilandau reached forward and grabbed the arms and yanked it back on all fours, causing Kat to jerk forward and fall back all in one motion.  Recovering and repositioning herself, she sat there glared at Dilandau.  

She knew the room, it was the same room that she and the others had sat in and been told that they were basically prisoners.  

Just then Folken walked into the room.  "Folken, get on with it," Dilandau said as Folken opened his mouth.  Apparently Dilandau wanted to get to the part that was important.  

Folken glared at Dilandau, and then turned to Kat who was still shaking with fear.  In her mind's eye she could see the darkness seeping all around her, trying to bite at her flesh and bring her down into its icy depths.

"I see you have all ready found your powers.  Do you know why you have them?  Or what they relate too?"  Folken asked.  

There was a long pause.  

"I can tell not.  I'm sure you would like the short version, since you and Dilandau have the same patience-or lack there of.  You and your two friends have been chosen to be the protectors of Gaea. 

"Alexandra is the Child of the Elements, otherwise known as the Protector. Nicole is the Child of the Mystic Moon, or also known as the Queen of the Planets.  You…you my dear are the Mistress of the Dark Side of the Moon, Child of Darkness, known also as the Destroyer.  You control the most destructive power in the whole world, probably in the whole galaxy."

Kat stared, not really seeing him, as she processed what he had said.  She didn't dare say anything for fear that her voice would betray her.  Me? The Destroyer?  How.... That can't be right, she thought. 

 _But it is,_ said the darkness.  _You know it is.  Trust in his words as you do your so-called friends.  They abandoned you and here is Folken, explaining your destiny to you.  He won't abandon you._  

"I think you have the wrong person.  I can't be this so called Destroyer," she said quietly, mostly to the darkness then to Dilandau or Folken.  "For one, I don't destroy things.  I'm not some delinquent out for revenge.  Second, hello, do I look the dark and evil type?"

"Yes."  Dilandau answered, a bit of a venomous tone in his voice.

Kat glared at him.  "Wrong.  Third, you're evil.  I don't-won't-go around blowing things up just because you tell me to.  I don't work like that.  Fourth, who in their right mind would put darkness with elements and energy?  No one I know of.  It's just not done."  

"No?  Then how come you have the power in which you can create balls of energy that can destroy things?"  Folken asked.  "When you think about it, don't Nicole and Alexandra have powers that are alike?  Nicole draws her power from the Mystic Moon's energy-the very core of the mystic planet, and Alexandra draws her powers from the elements that come from the same mystic planet.  You, on the other hand, you draw your power from the shadows and darkness.  Now, does that come from the mystic planet?  No, it only exists in the heart of Gaea because Gaea was created out of the dark thoughts of the people of the Mystic Moon."

"Still has no purpose.  Darkness and Good don't go together."

"Katrina, think about the balance of the universe.  Can Good exist without Evil to balance it?  Can cold still survive without heat?  Can man live without woman?"

"Well, if you want the technical details-"

"The answer is that they cannot.  Every planet has a balance of good and evil.  On Gaea, darkness is not necessarily Evil-it is a symbol of the things we have not discovered, of life that is hidden in the mists of the past and future.  Darkness is as good as you want it to be." 

Kat bit her lip.  He was right and she knew it and there was no arguing on that case.  Hadn't she always been told there was no defining Evil, only how you looked at it?  "So... What do you want with me?"  She asked. 

This was the question that would determine what would happen to her-her fate.  She knew that she could never get off this place without the help of the outside and hopefully Alex and Nicole were trying to get that help but she wasn't going to give up.  Just because you knew something was hopeless doesn't mean you fall over and play dead. 

Folken cleared his throat and looked her straight in the eye.  "The reason I have kept you and your-well, previously placed friends-in your cells was because I wanted your powers to develop.  To study how you developed them and what the outcomes were.  

"Since Alexandra and Nicole have escaped all I have left is you.  You are a Dragon Slayer by right of test so you will begin training with them.  The only reason why you were confined to your cell was because of your powers.   However, if you ever show any signs of betrayal, we will hunt you down and kill you," he replied. 

Dilandau snorted from his spot against the wall where he had taken refuge.  "You think you can scare her by threatening her life, Folken?" He asked, looking at Folken. 

Folken stared back with an odd look on his face.  

"I've seen her.  I've seen how she doesn't scare and how good of a fighter she is.  She won't take your threat seriously.  We don't have anything we can use against her.  So, if she escapes we just go and bring her back," Dilandau pointed out. 

Folken sighed. 

Kat blinked and looked at both men.  Usually Dilandau is all for threatening my life. But why is he suddenly so.... so protective? She wondered. 

"Then we go after her friends."  

That was short lived, she thought.  I knew he couldn't be a nice guy.  Suddenly she became very cold.  She started to shiver, so she wrapped her arms around herself.  "Why's it so cold suddenly?"  She asked through suddenly chattering teeth.  Then, suddenly her vision faded into blackness. 

_She was standing in the middle of a burning village.  The smoke and ash swirled around her in frenzy as if they were trying to escape.  The heat seared her skin but she didn't noticed.  Taking in a deep breath she smiled, as she smelled burning word and flesh.  This was heaven._

_She was in her black clothes and had a sword in her hand.  The sword was dripping with blood.  She looked at the sword and smiled.  A sign of destruction fit for the Destroyer.  "See? I told you were different then the others," a voice whispered in her ear. _

_She turned around and saw Dilandau behind her and smiled sweetly at him.  "You were right. I'm not like them," she agreed. _

_Dilandau gave her a smile and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.  "So, what's next?" She asked, looking into Dilandau's deep red eyes. _

_"This," he replied, and the kissed her._

Kat's eyes flew open and she sat up.  Obviously she had been slouched over since she had to actually sit up.  She looked around and saw she was still in the room with Folken and Dilandau with not much time seeming to have passed.  At the sight of Dilandau her blood went cold and she froze.  The image of him kissing her was still imprinted in her mind.

Ugh gross!  She thought.  Why did I ever fantasize about that?  "What happened?"  She demanded, standing up. 

"You fainted," Dilandau snickered as if it was the funniest thing in the world. 

"I did not!  How could I have fainted if I had a dream?"

"A dream?"  Folken asked, looking interested.

Uh oh, should've kept my mouth shut.  "Yeah, a dream."

"If you faint you do not dream.  You could have gone into a trance.  Do you remember what you saw?"

"I do."

"Tell us."

Kat laughed and put a hand on her hip.  "Like I'd ever tell you.  I'm only cooperating with you because I don't want Alex and Nicole hurt.  So don't expect me to be sharing anything anytime.  Now, can I go back to my cell since this little chat has ended." 

Folken nodded.  Dilandau walked up and took Kat's upper arm and led her out the door and back to her cell.  She noticed that he was definitely not being gentle with her.  "So you've noticed I'm not a china doll.  You know I can take whatever you deal out," she said to him after he pushed her into her cell. 

Dilandau smiled evilly at her.  "I know, and that's what will make you a good Slayer," he replied, and then the door slid shut. 

AN:  All righty!  What do you think?  What's this about Kat's having visions?  Nicole and Alex are on Fanellia's side?  Kat is kissing Dilandau?!  Confusing isn't it?  He he he, and why is Kat going over to the dark side as her nature wants?  Giving in to temptation of maybe a silver headed boy is responcible…  R+R!  Thanks!

~ShadowKat    


	6. Planning and its Complications

**            Disclaimer:**  No, like everyone, I don't own the Escaflowne cast… nor the plot… so, don't sue 'cause no lawyer will take my case.  **CrimsonFire pokes her and points to the large que card**  Oh… **ShadowKat reads**  Yay!  I DO own some of the characters!  I own all the characters that are NOT in the Escaflowne plot or in the series! **Three Girls**

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling.  CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in.  So this one is done for you!

Chapter 6: Planning and it's Complications 

Hitomi Kanzaki nodded in understanding.  Nicole sighed and leaned back in her chair.  She had just gotten through telling Hitomi about how they got into this land-apparently a planet called Gaea-and what happened up until now.  "So, you think you can help us?" Alex asked hopefully.  She needed some good news; listening to Nicole reencounter what had happened had made her depressed. 

"I hope so, Alex.  I'll have to talk to Van when he gets back but until then we can't be sure of anything, so why don't you two stay here?"  Hitomi suggested. 

"Fine with us," Nicole replied. 

Hitomi nodded and got to her feet.  "Follow me," she said. 

Alex and Nicole got to their feet and followed Hitomi out of the room.  She gave them a tour of the halls and where they led to, where the garden was, and in case of a sudden attack, where the stables were and how to escape.  Lastly, she came to a stop outside of a large Oak door and pushed it open, revealing a room with plush white carpet and cream-colored walls.  The room held two double beds facing each other, each with a nightstand, each bed on an opposite wall. 

There was a trunk at the foot of one bed.  A desk was next to the door, and a dresser against the farthest wall.  With a bathroom attachment to the left, and a closet to the right, the room was beautiful and complete. 

"This is where you'll be staying.  I'll come and get you when Van comes home for dinner.  Until then, you can rest up," Hitomi said, and then closed the door. 

"I'm taking a shower," Nicole said as she headed to the bathroom. 

Alex laughed and collapsed onto the bed with the trunk at the end.  "I'm takin' a nap!"  She said as Nicole shut the door to the bathroom.  After the sound of running water had started, Alex fell into a cozy sleep.

Kat stood in the center of a large room with a blue padded floor.  Large lights were trained on her and she felt like she was in some crazy kung-fu movie.  Why does everything here have to feel like a movie?  She wondered.  

She could feel the eyes of the 12 Dragon Slayers on her.  It made her a little uneasy, being watched by them.  She wasn't used to having this many eyes on her and they were all just waiting for the signal to pounce.  Come on girl; don't loose your concentration.  Just pretend you're back at the dojo, working out… or at least trying to work out, she mentally told herself.  She tightened her grip on her sword and went into a fighting stance.  

So maybe she was a little rusty on her fencing techniques, but at least it gave her some comfort to know she would have a chance.  She stared straight ahead at her opponent-the fight was to the death.  The guy in front of her was dressed in all black, with a mask hiding his facial features.  

It was like she was battling a mime; someone unimportant or maybe even the CEO of this Zaibach-if they even knew what a CEO was-and was just playing with her mind as he stood there, grinning a mouth less grin at her.  She shuttered, a mental picture of a mime popping up in her head.  She hated mimes. 

Out of nowhere, the man charged at her.  He came in low and fast like some sort of human missile.  Surprised, she put up her sword and parried the blow.  Untangling her sword from the man's, she thrust at him and he barely was able to block it.  Whoever it is, they haven't been very experienced in the art of swords fighting-even I can get some shots in on him, she thought as she easily blocked a thrust from the man.  Now I'm getting back into the kick of things! 

Ok, I need to give this dude a name.  I'll call him... Blocky, she thought as she preformed a pretty descent back flip, getting out of the way of a low swing.  Blocky followed her and took another swing at her.  Kat blocked it and swung at his neck. 

There was an ear splitting sound of metal on metal just as she thought the swing would go through.  Again, her and Blocky's swords were locked together.  Again?  Doesn't this dog know any new tricks?  She wondered.  However, Blocky began to put pressure on her sword, slowly pushing her down. 

So he learns, she thought as she pulled out of the lock and jumped to the side, causing Blocky to stumble forward.  Seeing her only chance, she took it and raised her sword.  She closed her eyes and said the fastest prayer, then brought it down and ignored the sound of her blade piercing the man's heart.  It made her sick, the sound did, and she pulled back to try and get out of the way of the blood.  

Blocky froze and when she pulled her blade out of him he fell to the ground, dead.          

Kat looked at his dead body lying in front of her and a small grin appeared on her face.  First time I did it that way.  I know I should feel bad about taking his life, but that was kind of fun.... she thought.  She quickly dismissed it and wiped the grin off her face.  This is morally wrong.  I should not be laughing about taking someone's life!  What would Nicole and Alex say?

She turned and looked at Dilandau, his face was blank and she couldn't read his expression.  "Miguel, the time," he ordered.  

Miguel stepped forward and looked at a stopwatch that had just magically appeared in his hand.  Dang, it's like Alex's ever present hamster, she thought, amused at the memory of the insane hamster that had gotten out of its cage and had run rampant all over her house.

"Exactly 52 seconds," he reported, and then stepped back into the Dragon Slayer's line.  

Dilandau smirked at this. " "You may go back to your quarters.  Gatti, escort her," he said.  

A boy with light brown hair and bluish green eyes stepped forward.  "Follow me, please," he said, and then started towards the door with Kat on his heels.  She wanted to get out of the room as fast as possible-the smell of the man's blood was making her sick to her stomach.

Alex, Nicole and Hitomi were all seated at a large dark wood table with plush blue chairs in a nice, large room with huge windows on all sides discussing the Vione-Zaibach's Floating Fortress-when a tall man with wild black hair and hazel eyes walked into the room.  He wore black army boots and khaki colored pants with a white blouse.  He eyed Nicole and Alex with a mix of curiosity and weariness. 

"Alex, Nicole, this is Van Fanel, King of Fanellia and my husband.  Van, this is Nicole and Alex.  They came from Earth and have a very interesting story to tell you after dinner," Hitomi said. 

Van nodded, not even offering a smile to the others, and sat down to the right of Hitomi.   "So Hitomi, can we go through with our plan?"  Alex asked, eyeing Van with curiosity.  Why did he seem as if he was carrying a huge weight on his shoulders?  It's like Kat the first time I saw her, she thought.  "Nicole and I have come up with a genius plan to rescue Kat." 

Hitomi smiled at them and motioned to Van.  "I've got no problems with it.  But explain your brilliant plan to him.  He's the smart one," she said with a hint of joking in her tone. 

"Well, we figured if we could get a small army of men to make a minor attack on the Vione," Alex started, but saw the confused look on Van's face and stopped.   "Yes, I mean minor," she explained.  

Van nodded and she continued.   "We were thinking that maybe a small army can make a small attack on the Vione making the battle last just long enough for either Nicole or I to slip into the Vione, hopefully unnoticed, to find Kat.  Then we could rescue her while you retreat and hopefully we won't have any real damage done to us." 

Van looked thoughtful for a second.  "My advisors have told me that a beam of light deposited three girls on Zaibach territory and that they were taken by the Dragon Slayers," he mused as if to himself.  "Then I heard that Zaibach had plans for the girls and that they believed them to be the legendary Protectors of Gaea.  

"My advisors then reported just two days ago that two of the girls escaped and Zaibach had lost track of them.  Now that I have heard your plan, I assume that the other two girls are you, and that your friend-Kat, did you say?-is the other girl I heard about."

Nicole nodded and he went on.  

"Then I just heard that the other girl, Kat, had just formally accepted the duty of the Dragon Slayers and had taken the identity of the Destroyer-"

"What?  We all accepted the duty of Dragon Slayer!  Only, they sort of tricked us into it.  The whole holding the clothes you accept thing," Alex protested.

"To become a real Dragon Slayer you need to accept the clothes and then kill someone in a battle in good time.  Anything under 2 minutes I believe.  That's when you're formally accepted," Hitomi explained.

"Then that means…" Nicole whispered, her eyes growing wide.

"Kat has killed someone," Van finished.  "But, I also know from a very reliable source that Zaibach plans to make Kat's powers develop faster since all of your powers are still premature.  I have reason to believe that this can prove fatal, or it can make her the most powerful person on all of Gaea.  

"However, not without its consequences.  If they proceed and Kat's body does not accept the bringing of her new powers so quickly it could brainwash her… making her the most powerful servant of Zaibach."

Alex inhaled sharply at this.  "Then you agree that we have to save her," She inquired hopefully. 

Van thought for a second, and then nodded.  "I agree that it is a concern of mine that Kat will fall into the power of Zaibach.  It is in Fanellia's best interest that we rescue her.  I'll brush you up on some techniques and we attack at the end of the week," he replied. 

"Thank you," Nicole said, relief obvious in her tone and face. 

The next couple of days went by without any problems.  Van was very prompt in getting a small army of 100 men together.  He also kept his promise to brush Alex and Nicole up on fighting techniques; of course they were eager to learn so it only took a day to teach them.  

He even let Alex teach the troops some moves that she used since she did have a black belt in martial arts, a form that was unknown to the troops.  Everything was fine, until they learned that Zaibach had already started experimenting on Kat.  "We attack tomorrow, right?" Nicole asked worriedly, having just received the information. 

Van nodded.  "We attack at dawn," he replied. 

"Good, 'cause I want to give those bastards a taste of my medicine," Alex spat. 

Van looked at her with a slight smile.  "Take it from a war veteran, get some sleep; you'll need it." 

Nicole and Alex nodded and started the walk to their room in silence. "Alex, you think Kat's alright?"  Nicole asked finally as she climbed into her bed. 

"Of course.  She wouldn't give up on help and I bet she's putting up one hell of a fight.  Zaibach must have to use a lot of force to keep her down for their experiments," Alex replied confidently.

"No, I mean about the killing thing.  You think she did it on her own free will?  Or was it a trade off, her life or his?"

"I… I don't know, Nikki.  I wish to God I knew if the rumor was true or not, know the details you know?"

"So do I." Nicole said, and then drifted off to sleep. 

"Yeah," Alex mumbled before slipping off into a deep sleep.

Kat walked down the halls of the Vione sore and in a bad mood.  She had just been released from Folken's lab.  Everyday, starting the day after she killed the man they would take her after her short lunch and force her into a cold metal chair and strap her down so she couldn't move an inch.  She hated the room-it was dark and cold and held the presence of something evil in it. 

Of course, that only added to Kat's determination to get free.  In turn, it took at least two hours just to get her down.  She sort of pitied the guards that received injuries from her; they had no reason to have those broken arms and jaws.  But the darkness spoke to her and made her on edge, to add to the fact that she wanted to get free.  But once she was down and strapped in, the injections came. 

Kat shuddered at the thought.  She hated them.  They hurt like hell and they didn't do anything.  At least, not that she could tell-and neither could they from the looks of her sessions lately.  Injection after injection of different colored fluids and some that she thought were pure acid were injected into her blood stream.  They burned her making her think that she had been lit on fire.  She hated them.

Then to add to that Dilandau had started to come with her to her "sessions".  At first it was for security since she had been close to escaping and he just stayed by the door.  But then he had started to get closer to her, slithering towards her each session, helping with the injections or holding her down or some other instructed action.  He would bitch about it throughout the sessions (he even got popped in the jaw once) but she knew better.  

He was only there for one thing; to see her suffer.  Kat hated it and she had once spat, "I'm no child.  I can handle it without you."  He hadn't replied, and Kat had held in her screams as she received more injections.

She wrapped her arms around her and walked a little faster.  She hated it. She hated Zaibach, she hated the "sessions", she hated the Vione and most of all she hated Folken.  She hated being treated like a Guinea Pig.  She hated not having Nicole or Alex around.  She hated feeling weak and vulnerable and she wanted to go home.  In fact, she hated this whole planet.  If she was the Destroyer why couldn't she just destroy the whole planet?

"Well, what do we have here?" A voice asked suddenly.  

Kat stopped and looked up, out of her thoughts and annoyed.  She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and found that she was on a deck she had never been before.  Puzzled, she turned around and saw Dilandau behind her. 

"A lost kitten?"  He smirked and walked over to her.  "You're on a unauthorized deck, little kitten," he snarled. 

Kat's face immediately became one of hate and rage.  She would not take this from him.  "I'm not a "little kitten"," she spat with venom. 

"Ooh, aren't we brave," he replied sarcastically. 

Kat was just about to reply with a snide remark when she suddenly became aware that Dilandau was much closer then usual.  She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when suddenly she felt his lips against hers.  What the... she thought, confused.  Her mind was working like lighting.  She pushed him away and took a step back, her eyes filled with confused anger. 

Why did he do that?  He couldn't like me.  Am I some kind of game?  She turned on her heel and started to walk away him.  I've got to get away from him. 

Dilandau's hand reached out and grabbed her upped arm, stopping her.  "What?"  Kat asked, annoyed. 

"Wrong way," he replied, and turned her around, pointing her in the right direction. 

Kat growled and started walking the right way, fast.  Soon she was far away from Dilandau and back in her own room.  She knew that it was some ungodly hour in the morning, and she barely found her bed.  She collapsed into it and forced her mind to stop with all the questions.  He's playing with your mind, girl.  Ignore him and everything will be fine, she told herself. 

But you like him, another voice said before she drifted off to sleep.

AN: Aw…. Kat's having second thoughts about Dilandau and Nicole and Alex are planning to get her back?  Will Kat go with them?  The twisting and pulling of this!  Agh!  Well, let's see… when shall the next chapter come out?  Nah, I like this cliffhanger.  So… HAH!  I'm not posting until I get… uh, at least 10 reviews!  If or not… oh, who knows?  R+R Everyone!

~ShadowKat  
  
  



	7. One, Two, Three, Four, I Declare War

**Disclaimer:**  Blah blah blah, I don't own any of the characters of plot line of Escaflowne… I do own anything not belong to the story line… so it's mine and ask before you borrow. **Three Girls**

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling.  CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in.  So this one is done for you!

Chapter 7: One, Two, Three, Four, I Declare a War 

At dawn the next morning, Van's troops were positioned around the Vione.  "I can definitely sense her aura," Nicole told Alex and Van.  They were set up in small pavilion just yards away from the awaiting soldiers.  Van, who was dressed in black boots, khaki pants and a red shirt with a sword at his side nodded.  

He knew that Alex and Nicole had the powers to sense each other's auras.  It's a good thing too.  It'll make the job go quicker, he thought.  "Ok, which one of us shall go in?" Alex asked. 

"I'll go since I'm the one who is better at sensing Kat's aura," Nicole replied.  

Alex nodded.  

Nicole took a step back from the group and closed her eyes, concentrating on the life energy of Earth.  Pink ribbons shot out of thin air and formed a pink bubble around her, totally hiding her from the outside eye.  Within 5 seconds the pink bubble shattered, revealing Nicole in her outfit.  "We're lucky we figured out how to change in and out of our costumes without a problem," Alex commented as she too began to transform.

Green branches shot out of the ground and intertwined together to make a cocoon for her.  Like Nicole, within 5 seconds the branches shattered revealing Alex in her dark green costume.  "Ok, Nicole you go ahead and slip into the Vione," Alex said.  "We'll give you about 5 minute's head start.  Then we attack and hope to attract their attention.  Ready?  Go!"

Nicole nodded and ran out of the pavilion, heading towards the Vione. Thank God the ground is mostly flat.  I have a problem with cross-country, Nicole thought as she easily gained on the Vione.  As she ran she made sure to keep track of the time.  She was only a few feet away from the now landing Vione when the first cannon was shot. 

It hit the Vione dead on, giving Nicole the advantage of the smoke as a cover.  She ran up to the Vione and made a hole in the thick outer layer with her ribbons.  She then slipped in and began to run down the all-too familiar corridors.  Hang in there, Kat. I'm comin', she thought as she ran up the all too familiar staircase.

Kat was roaming the halls when the first shot came.  It rocked the Vione causing Kat to loose her balance and fall to the ground.  She quickly got to her feet and without reason ran to the hanger.  Maybe it's the help I've been waiting for, she thought as she ran.  

Upon reaching the hanger she found it was in chaos with Slayers running around and Dilandau shouting orders.   "What's happening?"  She demanded as she ran up to Dilandau. 

He looked at her for a second before replying, "we're under attack." 

"Duh!  I mean what's happening?"  Kat shot back.  She was not in the mood for games with him.  She just wanted to know what was happening and how she could help them by escaping. 

"We're under attack by a small army of Fanellian soldiers," he replied, "now go get to safety!"

Kat looked at him, surprised.  She would have thought he would be yelling at her to get ready for battle.  But she quickly regained her posture and ran for the huge doors that led to the outside of the Vione.  She was very aware of the fact that she was wearing black boots with black pants and a dark blue tank top; the Dragon Slayer clothes. 

She didn't care.  For some reason she had the uncontrollable urge to kill some people.  It was like a huge hunger pain that she couldn't control anymore-never in her life had she ever wanted to see blood spill!  No!  That's _not_ what I want to do!  This is my chance to escape!  She told herself sternly. 

_Come on just give in already.  You know that the urge is in your nature.  After all, it had saved your ass in the past, hasn't it?_  A small voice pointed out.

Kat ignored it and continued to run.  By now she was outside with some of the other Slayers.  She quickly counted the troops.  25 against 13 damn, not good odds, she thought.

She suddenly whirled around, grabbing a dagger from her boot and driving it into the Fanellian soldier that was about to knock her out.  She withdrew her dagger, thankful for however had left it on her nightstand last night then turned back to the battle and went to the aid of Gatti, who was currently battling 2 soldiers with a 3rd sneaking up behind him.

As if another person had totally replaced her, she rushed the soldier and stabbed him in the back.  "It's not nice to sneak up on people," she told him just before she ripped out her dagger from his back. 

Nicole had searched the whole Vione lucky enough not to get caught.  However, Kat wasn't anywhere to be found on the fortress.  Which means only one thing, she's out on the battlefield, Nicole thought as she headed for the hanger. 

She was glad that Van had insisted on making her and Alex run over the lay out of the Vione before heading into battle.  Even though they knew some of the halls, the extra information had helped a lot in her search.  Kat's definitely on the battlefield, Nicole thought as she entered the hanger and sensed Kat's presence.

Half way into the hanger she realized her mistake.  There were about 3 other Slayers with Dilandau still in the hanger.  She had thought they'd all be out on the battlefield.  Shit!  Out numbered and outmatched, she thought.  She quickly slipped into the shadows and hoped to God that no one noticed her.

But her hope was short lived.  Dilandau and sniffed the air like a bloodhound searching for a scent.  He paused and then turned around and pointed at the spot where she was hiding.  "Get her!"  He ordered.  

Nicole bolted from the shadows and ran like hell towards the hanger doors.  Just like last time, only I don't have Kat to save my ass, she thought as she pumped her legs harder.  She could hear the perusing Slayer's footsteps right behind her.  "Damn!"  She hissed.  She was so close to the door, if only....

Suddenly something exploded behind Nicole.  This surprised her, which made her run faster.  She exited the Vione safely and ran straight onto the battlefield.  Yet the sight that greeted her was more then horrifying.  

Kat, covered in blood with a few cuts, was standing in the middle of a circle of dead Fanellian soldiers.  It was like they had all been slaughtered in a fury of movement, their swords frozen in their hands and the last look on their faces still there.  She was fighting Van at the moment, and Nicole saw Alex sneaking up behind her.  But Kat sensed Alex's presence behind her, so she whirled around and elbowed her in the side. 

Alex stumbled backwards just as a familiar scream sounded.  "NO!"  Kat's head jerked up as she spotted Nicole, her eyes were wide with fear, horror and anger.  

Kat bit her lip hard and as if waking from a dream she looked around her.  The dead bodies of Fanellian soldiers were all around her, the ground bloody, and the form of Alex standing up next to Nicole.  She knew that Van was getting ready to attack her if she showed any hint of attacking but she didn't much care at that moment.  Kat stared at Nicole, the horror of what she had done dawning on her.  How could I do this? 

Suddenly Kat caught sight of the Slayer sneaking up behind Nicole, ready to behead her.  "NO!"  She screamed as she quickly let loose a ball of energy from her hand.  Everything seemed to slow down as the ball of energy flew past Nicole, barely millimeters from her ear, and hit the Slayer, sending him flying back.  At the same time Van brought the sword down as Kat jerked forward trying to dodge it. 

She felt the cold blade slice her back open as she hit the ground.  Pain registered with her brain and the many cuts began to burn, her back swelling with pain and burning like someone had it on fire.  Slowly Kat felt her brain start to shut down.  She was suddenly exhausted, both mentally and physically, and her body screamed for sleep.  

So this is what it's like to die by the blade of a sword?  She wondered absentmindedly as darkness began to close in.  Just before the darkness won her over, she glanced at Nicole, who was being quickly led away by Alex.  Kat shot them "I'm sorry" look and then fainted.  
  


"What can we do for her?"  Nicole asked Alex in fright.  It was close to midnight, the same day of the battle, and Alex had just finishing telling Nicole, and Nicole Alex, about what they had seen in Kat. 

"I don't know…  the look in her eyes, it was almost like she was born to kill.  That totally lost savage look.  But then I noticed that she didn't just go up to a guy and kill him.  She had a strategy, she would help the people that couldn't handle the battle, whether Fanellian or Slayer.  

"Unfortunately it was mostly Slayers that needed the help.  That's when she killed.  To tell you the truth, Nicole, I don't know how to help her-if we even could," Alex confessed.

Nicole regarded her friend with careful eyes.  She knew that Alex was feeling bad.  They both felt like it was their fault that Kat was still in Zaibach, forced to kill innocent people-she had been the one who saved them from Zaibach.  "She once told me that when she was little, her dad beat her," Nicole whispered, reminiscing.  "She said she had to defend herself and her mother from him and she said that since then she had an urge to fight for the innocent and defend herself." 

Alex looked at Nicole with surprise.  So that's why Kat didn't want her past known to us.  But, if that was all, it's not so bad.  Something else must've happened that she doesn't want known, she thought.   Oh Kat, why do you insist in hiding things from us?  "I think that we both always knew Kat was different from the way she poured herself into her martial arts training.  But that doesn't mean we abandon her.  She might have killed but we're best friends, we've been together forever; and we owe it to her, as many times as she's saved our asses, to help her out," Alex pointed out.

Nicole nodded and leaned back in her bed.  "We'll keep trying to get her back, no matter what.  She's important to us," she said as she fell asleep.

"Hear that, Kat?  You're important to us, so don't give up," Alex whispered to the dark as she fell asleep.  
  


AN:  YAY!  Chapter seven is up!   Okay, so Kat's prison to Zaibach again?  But what's with the killing spree?  What's happening to our Destroyer?  When is she going to be saved… or can she be saved?  CLIFFHANGER people!  Put your hands in the air and wave them all around… okay, too much caffeine… going away now…  R+R!

~ShadowKat  
  



	8. Meet the New Boys

**Disclaimer:**  Blah blah blah, I don't own any of the characters of plot line of Escaflowne… I do own anything not belong to the story line… so it's mine and ask before you borrow. **Three Girls**

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling.  CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in.  So this one is done for you!

Chapter 8: Meet the New Boys 

Three days past since the failure of the attack on the Vione and Alex and Nicole were in high spirits working with Hitomi as they came up with all sorts of plans to rescue Kat.  On the 4th day, they were all sitting in the garden, taking a well-needed break when 2 boys walked up.  The boys looked about a year older then Nicole and Alex, and were very cute. 

"Ah, Carlo, Tai, welcome.  Please sit down," Hitomi said, standing up and shaking the boy's hands. 

"Thank you, Miss Hitomi," a boy with messy black hair and sparkling golden brown eyes wearing brown boots, black pants and a white shirt said as he sat down next to Nicole.  The second boy had short brown hair that had blond colorings at the tips.  He wore black boots with khaki pants and a yellow tight sleeveless shirt. 

"This is Alex and Nicole; they are guests of mine.  Nicole, Alex, this is Carlos and Tai," Hitomi introduced them.  

Quickly both Alex and Nicole figured out that Carlos was the one with the white shirt and Tai was the one with the funky hair do.  "Nice to meet you," Nicole said as she shook hands with both Carlos and Tai.

"A pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady like yourself," Tai commented as he kissed Nicole's hand.  Nicole blushed. 

Alex smirked at her friend.  She wasn't really affected by the boy's presence-well, not much.  But that didn't matter because soon they were all enveloped in talking out plans.  Apparently both Carlos and Tai knew about the Protectors and who Kat was.  It turned out that they were the sources Van had talked about.  Hitomi smiled to herself as she watched the 4 teens flirt with each other. Love at first sight with these 4, she thought happily.

Kat opened her eyes and moaned softly.  She had just had the weirdest dreams ever.  She had seen Alex and Nicole flirting with 2 boys that she didn't know.  What was weird was that the teens didn't notice her presence even though she could touch them and talk to them.  It was like she wasn't even there to them.  But then that's when she saw herself on balcony of an unknown castle a cloaked figure standing in front of 2 bodies.  She had approached the figure and peered over its shoulder. 

Close up she saw that the bodies were those of the 2 boys she saw flirting with her friends.  Suddenly with a grim understanding settling over her she knew why the cloaked figure had killed them and who the figure was.

Kat got up and walked around her room.  Her back felt tons better but she was curious to how it was healing.  So standing in front of her full mirror opposite of her bed she unwrapped the bandages that covered her chest and watched as they fell to the ground.  Craning her neck around while reaching for an extra shirt that she had on her bed she saw that her wound was healing without infection.  Pulling on the shirt, she continued to walk around her room.

It was fairly big and standing from the doorway of the hall you found a double bed to the right of the room, a window seat and window in the middle of the wall that faced the doorway with a dresser in the corner left corner.  Continuing down the right wall you found a walk in closet and to the right there was a bathroom.  There was a wooden trunk at the end of her bed, and that was it.  The floor was some kind of ugly gray metal and the walls were a plain white color.  The late moonlight spilled across the room, lighting it up with a sort of gentle glow that radiated from every aspect of the room.

Kat walked over to her dresser and fished around in the drawers.  The rough unfinished wood bit at her arm as she tried to fit her arm into the small crack that she managed to build-the drawer was broken and could only be pulled out a certain width before becoming lodged.  She really wanted to take a shower because she felt like weeks worth of grime and dirt had suddenly crawled up underneath her skin.  Where's that robe?  She wondered as she felt some unfamiliar fabric touch her fingers.

Frowning, she gripped the fabric and gently tugged it free from her other clothes.  Once it was out of the drawer she held it up in the dim moonlight and found that it was a midnight blue turtleneck sweater.  Kat frowned even more.  I know I didn't have this before.  Only black pants and shirts, she thought.  Just as she began to ponder the mystery a folded note fell from the sweater and fluttered to the ground.

Kat stared at it for a second and then picked it up.  She carefully unfolded the tender paper, her heart racing.  She didn't know why she was excited about a stupid note and a sweater; it wasn't like she wasn't used to nasty surprises.  "I love you," she whispered shocked as she read the note.  Those were the only words scribbled on it as if the writer was in a hurry.  Suddenly the realization hit her like a freight train. 

Dilandau Albatou had fallen in love with _her_.  

"Oh, God," she whispered to the darkness as she dropped the sweater and note.  She watched as the sweater hit the floor with a soft sound and the note fluttered to a stop on top of it.  She stood and backed up until she was against her bed.  Sitting down heavily on it she put her fingers gently against her lips. 

Words from dreams forgotten in day came flooding to her.  He had stood over her sleeping form, watching her with soft eyes as she healed.  He had been by her side in heated dreams where she had cried out for help and received none.  He had whispered that she was different from the others in her ear while she slept.  He had told her a thousand times that he loved her.  She had whispered it back a thousand times.

"God, is it true?  Am I in love with a monster?"  She asked herself.  Mentally slapping herself-she had seen in her dreams what he had done, what she had done.  Everything he had ever said to her and done came flooding back begging her brain to look at what they meant.  She closed her eyes and asked herself how it could of happened.  Suddenly ever second she had been in his company or seen him or thought of him went running through her head.

Her fingers slowly traveled to the right side of her neck, where a slight scare lay.  Invisible to the eye, Dilandau had somehow noticed it and grasped onto it, stroking her hair back as she slept and asking who had lashed out to her.  "Then again you probably killed them for hurting you, didn't you?  You don't take shit from anyone," he had said to her.  

"He's a monster!"  She hissed, tears building in her eyes.

_You're the one who killed your father in cold blood,_ a voice in her head pointed out. 

"No, it wasn't in cold blood.  It was in self defense," she replied.

_That's what you think._

"No, it's true.  I didn't mean to kill him, but he could've killed my mother and I.  He already got my brother, and after he was done with us he could've moved on to others and done the same thing."

_Are you sure?_

"Yes.  I've had a friend who died of that same reason.  She was too weak to protect her loved ones so she died with them."

_True. But do you think it's that wrong that you are in love with someone who is only half as bad as you?_

"Damned voice; it obviously is!  It just means I'm as much as a monster as he is and I don't want to see that!  Seems as if my head doesn't have much say in this."

_Oh, no I do.  I've told you that you should go to Dilandau before your heart knew that you even liked him.  You just didn't listen.  So know will you listen to us? _

Kat bit her lip as she stroked the almost invisible scare.  She nodded to the darkness and stood up.  She knew better then to doubt her heart, and right now it was pointing to Dilandau.  How could this be happening, she wasn't sure.  All she knew was that something was guiding her actions and she agreed with it.   

She stood up and walked over to the sweater, kneeling down and picking it up she put it on the dresser.  She then grabbed some clean clothes and quickly changed into them then walked out the door. He's probably going to deny it was him who gave it to me, she thought as she wandered down the halls, her footsteps light. 

_He won't. It's been bugging him for days, so he'll give in. Besides, who can resist you?_  The voice replied.  Kat giggled at the last thing.  "What's so funny?" Someone asked. Kat stopped and whirled around.  She saw Dilandau leaning against the wall behind her, wearing his uniform.  "Caught wandering unauthorized decks again, little kitten. We'll have to fix that," he said with a smirk. 

"What if I said that I was looking for you?" Kat asked slyly. 

Dilandau quirked an eyebrow at her and stood up straight.  "Why would you be looking for me?" He asked. 

"Because of all the things you've said are now running through my head," Kat replied as she stepped up to him.  She quickly brushed her lips against his, barely even touching his so it was the faintest of feelings and then turned back the way she came from and started walking.  "Thanks for the sweater," she called over her shoulder.

"I don't know, Alex," Nicole said, unsure.  They were in their rooms discussing Carlos and Tai, with Alex folding clothes on her bed and Nicole looking out the window.  "They're nice and all, but some things not right with them.  The way they kept asking about personal things... like they were prying; I don't like it."

"Come on, I'm sure it was nothing!"  Alex shot back. 

Nicole sighed and looked out their window.  There was no way she could convince Alex.  Alex believed that the boys were harmless, but Nicole thought otherwise.  Sure she had a small crush on Carlos, but there was something off with him and Tai.  She couldn't quite place it. 

"Hey, Alex, remember how Kat always said that people could never fight the moonlight?  How it had a mesmerizing bond on every person?  And she sung that song?  How'd it go again?" Nicole asked, looking at the full moon.  She wanted so badly to hear Kat's voice again to comfort her in this time of uncertainty.

Alex stopped folding their clothes and came up next to her and shrugged, also looking at the moon.  "I don't know.  But I wish I did," she replied solemnly. 

"Hey, why the long faces?"  Someone asked.  Nicole and Alex both looked out the window and saw Kat crouched on the ledge of their window, smiling.

"Kat!" Alex cried as she threw open the window for her.  

Kat climbed easily through the window and was immediately glomped by Alex and Nicole.  "Are you ok?" Nicole asked as she hugged Kat. 

Kat laughed lightly.  "Of course I am!  You know me, I wouldn't break to those bastards any day of the week," she replied. 

"How'd you get out?"  Alex asked, leading Kat to her bed. 

Kat sat down with Alex on Alex's bed while Nicole sat on the trunk.  "Easy.  You know that nothing holds me down.  I just simply waited till everyone "trusted" me and was fast asleep, phased through some walls, lowered a rope and slipped off it and into the trees.  Not easy especially when you can't see where you're going but I survived and I came here to warn you," she replied, suddenly sounding serious.  "Fanellia's going to be attacked, and Zaibach wants everyone dead. Including you 2 if you don't come peacefully."

"Are you sure? I mean..." Nicole asked, biting her lip.  She hated to doubt her friends, but she wasn't sure if they could trust Kat.  Her reason for escaping was reasonable but she doubted Zaibach would just let her go that easily.  If she could escape this easily now why didn't she do it before? 

"Guys, it wasn't my choice to join the Dragon Slayers.  Heck, I don't even know why I even killed that guy to get into the Slayers.  Or why I suddenly fought in the siege.  I guess Fate just had that in store for me, and so far its served me well.  I was able to get the plans from Zaibach and I'll be able to save lives," Kat said, her voice soft. 

"Kat, we trust you, we always have.  It's just that the last act, with you killing those soldiers, we weren't quite sure whose side you were on," Alex said gently.

"Yeah.  I know.  I'm on your side, but I'm pretending to be on Zaibach's for the time being.  So can we show Van and Hitomi the plans I've got?  Zaibach's attacking at dawn," Kat asked. 

Nicole nodded and the trio stood up. Nicole walked out of the room to get a servant, and Alex and Kat went down to the meeting room.  Kat found tht the meeting room was very plain, wood floors and walls, a huge round table with wooden chairs around it, and a huge map of Fanellia on one wall and window opposite it.  After waiting for half and hour later Van and Hitomi walked in, looking very sleepy, with Nicole trailing them. 

"Sorry about the interrupt, folks, but we've got a big problem," Kat said.

Van registered Kat's presence and eyed her carefully but didn't say anything. 

"I'm on your side, and after I show you what's going to happen you'll be glad I am," Kat said.  She pulled out a map and laid it flat on the table.  It showed a map of Fanellia, but only it had a red line all around the city.  "These marks are the Dragon Slayers," Kat said, pointing to where the red line had 12 dots in it. 

"This is Dilandau and his back ups are positioned around the city," she pointed to a bigger dot, in the back of the city, and then motioned to the rest of the red line.  

"That's the only escape out of the city, besides the front gate!" Hitomi cried. 

Kat nodded gravely.  "I know.  Dilandau wants everyone killed.  So our only choice is to fight.  I plan to make it look like I got here to make sure no one knew about the attack, and make it look like I'm on the Slayer's side.  But really I'll be killing the other Zaibach soldiers and helping you guys. They attack at dawn." 

Van nodded and then glanced out the window.  The sky was starting to get light meaning dawn was only a couple hours away. 

"I'm sorry, this is the best I can do," Kat said apologetically.  "I only wish I could do more to make up for murdering your soldiers."

"No, you've done ok.  You're helping us, that's more then we can ask for," Hitomi reassured her. 

Kat nodded.  "I also want you to know that you have 2 spies on your hands.  Anyone new come around lately?"  Kat asked, remembering the other reason why she came. 

"Only Carlos and Tai," Hitomi replied. 

Kat's eyes narrowed.  "I want you all to keep an eye out.  It may not be them, but still, watch your backs," she said through gritted teeth.  "I'll be in the town, watching for the battle.  Remember, I'm a spy so don't go easy on me in the fight," she added as she walked out the door. 

"What's made her so snappy with the names "Carlos" and "Tai"?"  Nicole wondered out loud. 

AN:  So Kat's a traitor now?  Why aren't Nicole and Alex very happy?  What are these questions that are nagging at their brains?!  Oh, the turmoil of this psyche!  The new chapter will explain some questions... will it?  R+R!

~ShadowKat  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Spies in My Army?

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Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda… does anyone even read these anymore more? **everyone shakes head** Figured as much. Well, this is ShadowKat giving you a shout out on this reason: I do not own the Esca cast or storyline… much to my heartbreak; though I have tried on various occasions to steal the deed… alas they've all failed. So, don't sue. **raises first finger in air in triumph** But I do own anything that isn't in the original series! So HAH! Take that you stupid lawyer! **Lawyer glares** Uh oh….

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AN: I'd like to take a really short break here to thank everyone who's been reviewing! A special thanks to Kae Noel who's been encouraging my writing and this story and a big special thanks to CrimsonFire who found time to review my story and give me great feedback and point out my typos! Kae Noel, CrimsonFire, you two rock!

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Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is redone for you!

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Chapter 9: Spies in My Army?

Kat stood ready in the center of Fanellia; the little town had been alerted silently and everyone knew what to do. All around houses and shops stood, their sturdy brick structures looking so strong and she knew they were designed to resist a small attack. This was no small attack, this was a mission designed to take down Fanellia once and for all.

She knew that people would die. Whether they were innocents or warriors they would die and she couldn't prevent all of the deaths that were about to occur. But that wouldn't stop her from doing what she had to do. She wouldn't let Zaibach hurt her friends and most importantly she wouldn't let innocents die. 

Glancing at the sky she saw that it was fully dawn now. A warning sensation grew in her stomach and she knew it was only seconds before the attack came. I guess it was only a matter of time, she thought, wishing that the attack was still hours away. 

As if on cue, she heard the sound of the warning horn. They're here, she thought to herself as she drew her sword. She was dressed in her black uniform, neither Zaibach nor Fanellian in this fight for she would not kill those who didn't deserve to die. Still she was ready to fight. Her heart began to race as she anticipated the first move someone would make on her.

She smiled to herself as she heard the gates of Fanellia crumble as the Zaibach soldiers rushed it. There was no way that it could've held up against such force. Her heart pumped harder and something deep inside of her woke up-she had a lust for blood.

"KAT! FIRE!" Someone screamed at her. The scream startled Kat and she whirled around and saw Nicole who was pointing a huge guymelef floating in the sky above them, getting ready to fire its flame-thrower. 

"DAMN!" Kat yelled and sheathed her ready sword. She raised her hands above her head. "BLOCK!" 

Suddenly everything became dark. Nicole looked up at the sun and saw that instead of the fiery red orb hanging in the sky the two moons were blocking it. The world was submerged in darkness so thick it was hard to make out anything. At least we won't have to worry about the flames for long, she thought then turned to Kat. "How'd...?" Nicole started, but was then reminded of the acting that she was supposed to be doing when Kat charged her. 

To make everything look more real, and for the plan to continue, every Fanellian officer was supposed to attack Kat if the chance showed itself. Kat was to do the same but no one was supposed to do any real damage to the other unless necessary. The same went for the Protectors.

Nicole easily blocked Kat's charging sword with a simple whip made out of Earth energy; the whip wrapping around the sword and yanking it out of her hands then returning for another hit. Kat dodged an attack from Nicole and for a while they concentrated on play fighting, dodging one another's attacks and taking out whoever was a threat. But an hour later things got serious. 

Dilandau came barging into the city in his guymelef, quickly finishing the job that his soldiers were supposed to do. The whole city was on fire in seconds via his flamethrower. The flames lighted up the city, giving an eerie glow to things, lighting up the darkness in a way that could not be normal. "Nicole, where's Alex?" Kat asked Nicole. 

They had stopped their fake play and were quickly trying to regroup. There was no point to this battle anymore; Dilandau had all ready started the inevitable. "I don't know! She ran off and said that if things got hard, to just run and she'll met up with us," Nicole yelled over the sound of a house catching on fire across from where they were. 

Kat grabbed Nicole's wrist and began to run through the burning city. I have to get her out of here, she thought as she ran. They made their way to the front of the city, with little trouble because most of the battle had died down, but the fire proved to be a tough opponent. By the time they were by the gate they were both coughing hard from the smoke intake. 

They had just made it outside of the city and were running towards the figure of Alex when Kat suddenly stopped. Her body convulsed and she doubled over clutching her sides. Pain washed over her like a tidal wave and she fell to the ground. Nicole stopped and ran back to her. "What's that matter?" She asked fearfully. 

"Go... don't worry about me; I've got a job, remember? Now GO!" Kat hissed with all the might she could muster. 

The pain was too much to bear, her world was beginning to spin and darkness was biting at the sides of her vision. Nicole nodded and ran towards Alex. Kat grunted in pain as she cowered lower to the ground still clutching her sides. I still have that problem of controlling my new powers. I wish Folken would stop with his damned experiments! He's all ready got some results, so why won't he quit? She wondered. 

Very slowly the moons blocking the sun slipped away and the brightness of midmorning shone through. Well, at least we had more of a chance, she thought before she blacked out.

Nicole had just reached Alex when Kat had fainted and with much protest from the both of their conscious they had jumped onto a horse and ridden off after Van and Hitomi, who were leading the retreat. Besides a few soldiers they were the only survivors of the attack-at least, that they knew of. All of the other citizens had been previously evacuated or killed in the city. 

After riding into the late hours of the night they finally made camp in a forest. The camp had been set up before the attack so if they had to retreat they would have a temporary "safe" place to rest and then continue on whatever route they decided was best. Alex knew from experience that they were in the heart of the forest and that it would be hard for a guymelef to get through all the branches, which was what made it the perfect hiding spot. 

Heck, even Kat would have troubles here, she thought. I don't think she'd be able to get through so many branches by phasing. She instantly felt guilty at the thought. They had promised they would get her back and they had failed; they had left her with Zaibach _again_.

Even though both Alex and Nicole knew that Kat could handle herself they still felt guilty. "We'll have to go into hiding. Not a word can be heard from us, we cannot be seen and no one can know that we're still alive. We can hide with Merle until it's time," Van suddenly announced. 

Both Alex and Nicole looked at him, surprised. "I don't think so!" They both said. 

"I'm _not_ gonna be like Anne Frank. We can take whatever Zaibach throws at us!" Alex exclaimed. 

"It's not what we can take, it's what we can do. If we want to get Kat back-" Van started. 

"Kat's on our side. She said so. She's only staying with Zaibach to gather info and stuff for us. So stop making it sound like she's on the wrong side," Nicole cut in. 

This time it was Van's turn to look stunned. He had thought it was all a façade-a face to put on for Zaibach so she could get inside their intelligence. 

"I'm afraid that Zaibach will find out. But we can't exactly go busting in there and grab her; they'll just come and get her back. So I was thinking if we could get Kat to start to slowly drift apart from Zaibach, then she could escape easily. That way it wouldn't look like she just high tailed it outta there, and things wouldn't be so suspicious," Alex suggested. 

"It's a good plan, but it won't work, Alex," Nicole said. "For one thing, it's not Kat's style. For another, who can be sure she'd follow the plan? You know, being undercover and all she might not be able to execute it. I think we should let Kat do the decision-making. I'm sure she'll come up with some way to get out of Zaibach. 'Sides, Zaibach would know she was drifting." 

"We'll give her two months. If she's not with us by the end of the second month, we attack Zaibach full force whether she's with or us not. Understood?" Van asked. 

Even though most were shocked, everyone nodded. Nicole wanted to protest but she knew Van was being more then generous. 

"Then let's get into hiding," he said. What everyone didn't notice was that there was a dark figure standing in the shadows watching the conversation.

"Ah," Kat moaned as she slowly entered the realm of reality, opening her eyes and looking around. She was back in her room, back in Zaibach, back with Dilandau. She sighed to herself and sat up; she was sort of hoping that she would find herself in another house... somewhere far away from Zaibach; a place where Zaibach didn't even exist. But no such luck for her. 

"I see you're up," someone said, shocking her. Was someone else in the room? 

Kat turned and saw Dilandau leaning against the doorway. "Uh huh Pyro-Boy," she replied with a smile. 

"Well, then, I guess luck is with me today because I just heard the craziest rumor. It said that you were a spy for Van and company. Isn't that funny?" He asked as he walked over to her and sat on her bed, next to her.

Kat laughed out loud. "Yeah, that is funny," she agreed. Damn, how'd he find out? She wondered. Why does he say that luck is on his side?

"It would be funny except that I heard it straight from the source. Van and your two buddies both said you were a spy for them," Dilandau said, suddenly becoming very serious. 

Oh shit. He followed them and heard! Better come up with an excuse, quick! Kat thought. 

"We don't like spies here. Especially ones that tell the town we're attacking and get everyone ready. Ones that have the town kill two of our own spies," he spit. 

Suddenly the image of the cloaked figure with the two bodies flashed in Kat's head. This time the cloaked figure could be seen, and Kat saw that it was Van. So he found them out, she thought. Dilandau leaned in close to her and whispered in Kat's ear, "sorry love, but rules are rules." 

Then everything went black.   
  


AN: So I've moved to the bottom of the chapter. I figure it's easier for everyone. So what's this with Kat? Why'd Van not trust her? Dilandau is knocking out his girlfriend? Hello, can we get more confusing?! I don't know! I'm just the channel person; my ideas come from wherever so you can't blame me. Plus the story kinda comes to life and the characters write themselves. Creepy. -_- Well, a cryptic message in this one. R+R please! I want to hear how people like this story! **winks and gives a half salute** Until next time…. With lots of suspense over your heads! What's gonna happen to Kat…

~ShadowKat


	10. Fatal Loss

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Escaflowne characters nor the story. It belongs to Bandai Entertainment. The only things I own in this story are my characters!

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****

Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is done for you!

****

Chapter 10: Fatal Loss

Dilandau walked into Folken's study at the desired time. At least, _his _desired time-to hell with what Folken wanted. He didn't know why the hell Folken wanted him when he revealed the "new and improved" Kat. He didn't want to see the girl he loved altered; he only wanted to see the old one and take back the night he had knocked her out. 

"Good, you're here," Folken stated. All he got was a deathly glare and a, "Hmph" for a response. Folken sighed and stepped to the side. The boy could be real annoying at times. Dilandau's gaze drifted over to the chair that Folken had been hiding. 

He almost gasped out loud at what he saw. Kat was sitting in the chair, wearing her black uniform, her legs crossed and her hands clasped in her lap. She had her eyes closed giving off the look of a peacefully sleeping angel. It was like nothing had been done. Folken stepped in front of Dilandau while he was still in shock. He didn't want the teen to do something stupid and mess up every delicate procedure he had done to Kat to get her to forget her past.

Positioning himself so that Kat couldn't see Dilandau but Dilandau could see her, he commanded, "Arise, Kat." 

Kat didn't stir. She stayed motionless for fifteen minutes while Folken tried again and again to make her come to attention. "Kat, please," he finally said. 

A satisfied smirk suddenly appeared on Kat's angel-like face and she opened her eyes, revealing her midnight blue eyes. She uncrossed her legs and stood up, making each motion as slow as can be. Dilandau saw in her eyes that she enjoyed every second of the torture that she put Folken through. Once she was standing tall, she went into attention, the smirk never leaving her face. I don't believe it, she's exactly the same, almost, Dilandau thought. 

"Her memories have been captured and contained. She only remembers select things, mostly those excluding the other two girls. So she has no memory of them, but still has the same.... err.... _charming _attitude," Folken explained quietly to Dilandau. "Now, Kat, time to meet your Commander," Folken said, suddenly down to business. 

He stepped aside, revealing for the first time since Kat had been taken to Folken's lab, Dilandau. Kat stayed still a second, quickly scanning Dilandau's eyes. It took only a few seconds to identify him the memory clicking into place. "I know who he is," she said. Just as she had thought, his eyes showed her that he was relieved to see her. 

She turned her smirk into a smile and stepped towards Dilandau, but only one step. Something inside her was unsure…. she saw him grow a little more relaxed so she took another step. "Thoughts still running through your head? Hmmm.... you'll be mine soon enough," she whispered to him.

Dilandau strained to hear what she had said for she had whispered so softly it was almost impossible to hear her. Continuing to step forth she brushed past Dilandau, her hip barely grazing his, and walked out the door without another word. Dilandau watched her until the door slid closed. Her brief brush against him had lit an enormous fire within his soul just as watching the fire burn things lit him on fire. I just have to have her. There is no way such a woman could do what she does to me-it's as if she's the very fire that I love so much, he thought. 

"Dilandau?" Folken asked the dazed teen. 

Dilandau looked sideways at him an unreadable expression on his face. 

"Is she.... acceptable, by your standards?" He asked with hesitation. He hoped the unreadable look on the young man's face was one of uncontrollable furry and not something else. That's just what we need, two teens going crazy over each other. Well, I do hope Dilandau finds a way to kill the damn girl; she's way too much trouble to keep as a Slayer, Folken thought to himself. 

Dilandau chuckled lightly. "Oh, yes, Folken, she's perfect," he purred, "perfect for the battlefield." 

With that said he walked out the door without another word. Folken looked at the closed door and sighed. This was going to be harder then keeping Dilandau in line-now he had Dilandau and Kat to keep in line. "Gods, have mercy on me," he muttered.

Kat smiled to herself as she swiftly swung her sword around and caught the unsuspecting Guimel in the side. He took the hit from the blunt end of her blade hard and fell to the ground, his previous injury from her sword bleeding. "Ha, ha, ha, Sheep boy! I b-b-b-b-b-b-e-e-e-e-e-e-at you!" She taunted her fluffy, white haired companion, turning the "BE" of the word "beat" into the bleating sound of a sheep. It was a common joke she used on him since his hair reminded her strongly of a sheep's coat. 

Guimel glared at her but got to his feet. Kat held out her hand and Guimel bent down and retrieved something from his boot. He handed it to Kat and started to walk over to Miguel and Dalet who were muttering something to each other. Kat counted the silver coins that were in her hand and smiled as she pocketed them. There was the right amount there. Finally, I have enough for those gloves, she thought. 

"M-M-Milady?" A stuttering voice asked her from behind. She whirled around and stopped suddenly, her foot inches away from Chesta's temple. "Boo," she said with a smile. 

Chesta relaxed a little as Kat lowered her foot. He knew she was only joking and would not physically harm him on purpose. 

"So, what's up, 'Shroom Boy?" She asked with a playful smile. 

Chesta went red at the nickname and shyly handed her a message. "F-F-F-From Dor-n-n-nkirk him-s-s-self," he managed to get out. 

Kat, ignoring the red Chesta, looked at the official wax seal on the scroll and nodded. "Ok, I'll bite. Meanwhile tell Mr. I-Get-To-Slap-People-Around that he should work on his Slayer's training a little more," Kat said, grabbing the scroll before walking out of the Training Room and towards the showers. 

As she walked she broke the seal on the scroll and began to read it as she walked. Blah, blah, blah, she thought as she skimmed the letter. I have nothing better to say.... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... I'm an idiot... I still don't have Van and the Dragon.... want it captured, again.... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... man, this dude is boring… ah, here's something interesting. Want you and Dilandau to work together... bring back two girls... descriptions are, Kat read.

"So Ol' Dorn-y-kirk wants me to go and get two little girls. I've been here a month doing that same old same old and he wants me to go and get two little girls?" Kat muttered, enraged. "Okay, so I've got the advantage. I'm the "Oh Great Destroyer", big deal. Anyone can take this mission." 

She entered the showers, which was a very short hall that led to one door and if you opened the door you came to a bunch cubicles of curtain-less showers in one very small room and a closet, which housed clean clothes to the side. Next to each shower cubical there was a hamper where you put your dirty clothes in. Inside one of the shower cubicles you had your basic white tile walls, showerhead and white tile floor with the drain in the middle of the small space, a metal bar above the opening of the cubical that was mean for clean clothes to hang.

Kat pushed open the door, walked into the showers, entering the farthest cubical from the door and turned on the water. Dilandau's going to kill me for skipping the rest of Training, she thought as she quickly undressed and threw her clothes over the high metal bar. 

She stepped under the warm water and let it caress her arching body. Smiling to herself as the water ran down her body-it reminded her of something strangely familiar but she couldn't quite place it; the feeling but she could hear the sounds of two girls yelling and giggling. It's like an echo of the past or sumthin'. Maybe some dream I had, Kat thought, letting her mind reply the sounds and feelings. 

Suddenly a bad feeling came over her. She heard the laughing and giggling start to grow fainter. "Wait! We shouldn't leave! Come back! Please! Come back!" Her voice screamed in her ears. It was her voice but very young. 

"Please! Come back! NO!" The young voice screamed again. The sound of pounding feet could be heard. The noise pounded inside of Kat's ears as if she was the very ground on which the feet ran on. The sound of panting and a fast beating heart was suddenly mixed into the noise.

Kat heard the screeching of tires and then the sickening sound of metal on metal and metal on flesh. It was like she was standing right next to the crash, seeing it without actually looking. The pit of her stomach lurched as she heard her own voice scream out along with the one of the younger her. 

Kat's eyes flew open blinding her with water. She hadn't noticed she had closed her eyes. Her body slouched against the wall and she let the water run over her, trying to calm her racing heart. What the hell was that? Who was I screaming too? She wondered. 

After trying for some minutes her racing heart clamed down but Kat could still hear the sounds clearly, like they just replaying in her mind without her consent. It was tormenting; hearing what were happening but not being able to see it, not see the crash or the girl who sounded like her and why the girl was screaming. 

Just then she heard the shower door open and the voices of all twelve Slayers walking in. Great, just what I need, she thought. "Guys, wait a second, 'kay?" She called. 

The sounds of the guys halted and then she heard someone herding them out. "Right-o, Kat!" Miguel called back just before the sound of the door shutting was heard. Kat giggled to herself as she turned off the water and quickly dried off-it was an unwritten rule to the Slayers that they weren't allowed anywhere near her in the showers and that when she needed the showers they were all to evacuate. 

She practically jumped into her black pants, boots and midnight blue tank top, wanting to get out of there as fast as she could. Maybe if she left the showers the sounds would go away. Walking out of the showers she smiled sweetly at the twelve boys cramped in the small hall. "All yours," she said right before she left. 

Walking slowly down the halls as she was taking her time to get to her room. She was still thinking over what she had heard in the showers. Who was it that I heard? Why do I have this feeling like I know them? I don't even remember who they are-I can't even see them! So why do I feel like I know them? I bet it was some sort of dream I had when I was small and just haven't remembered it 'til now. Yeah, that's reasonable, she thought.

But how come I can't ignore the feeling that I know them? Am I related to them? Are they friends of mine? Did I know them while I was growing up? Do I still know them? Her mind questioned. I can't remember anything besides the Slayers… Everything is so fuzzy. 

Kat growled under her breath. She hated it when her mind put up so many crazy questions-it was annoying and pathetic. With some force she shoved the questions out of her mind and looked around to see where she was. Finding that she was at her door she entered and locked it behind her. She planned on having a restful night, with no interruptions. Damned Dalet and Guimel with their stupid tricks. Always targeting me with the stupid toilet paper and egg routine. I'm getting sick of it and it takes me all night just to get back to sleep, she thought as she kicked off her boots and put them by the door. 

She walked over to her dresser and grabbed some shorts, changed into them and casually tossed her pants to the side. She'd deal with the late night intruders later; right now it was time for some sleeping action.

Flopping into her bed, she barely made it underneath her covers before her eyes closed and she lay motionless. She didn't have to wait long for her much missed sleep came and enveloped her. 

****

~DREAM~

Kat stood in a dark forest; the trees planted closely all around her and the air stiff and cold. She could tell it was night even though the thick, weaved together branches of the thick trees blocked her vision of the sky. The only light she had was from an eerie source, which she couldn't locate. "Dilandau?" She called into the total stillness of the forest. 

No one replied. 

"Dilandau! Come out now! This isn't funny! Dalet! Guimel! I'll get you for this!" She cried desperately. 

Again no one answered.

Kat sat down on the ground feeling slightly scared and a little uneasy. Where am I? Where the heck is everyone? She thought. She sat, silent, for what seemed like hours to her, watching every inch of the forest for a sign of life. Finally she heard the first sound in the eternal quietness-a twig breaking not far off from her position. 

Only a couple feet away, Kat assumed. She stayed seated, not bothering in giving her hunter the pleasure to see her move because he thought she was scared. Just then two figures moved out of the bushes from her right and straight into Kat's line of vision. She saw that her "hunters" were only two girls, roughly her age. One had short brown hair with sparkling emerald green eyes and the other had should blade length blonde hair with hazel eyes. Both wore cloaks, the green eyed one had an emerald green one and the other had a violet one.

Kat watched as they both stopped and looked straight at her. Kat merely blinked in realization that they were there as both girls walked towards Kat. They stopped about two feet away from her, seeming to be very confident. "Kat, we're happy to see you're alive! There have been rumors that you were killed!" The one with the purple cloak spoke. She sounded happy to see Kat and spoke as if she had known Kat for a long time but the funny thing was that Kat didn't remember her. 

"Yeah. This is the only way we can contact you, so sorry about the whole missing sleep thing," the one with the green cloak agreed. 

Kat looked at both of them carefully. Could they be the ones I heard in the shower? She wondered. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" She demanded coldly. Better to play cold then to warm up to them. I don't know them, and so far don't trust them, she thought. But deep down inside she did trust them. That was the thing that bothered her. How could she trust someone she didn't know but knew her? 

"Kat, it's us. Nicole and Alex," the purple one spoke. 

Kat eyed them wearily. "I don't know you," she hissed, getting to her feet.

"What? How can you not know us? We're you friends! We've known each other for years! Best Friends forever, remember? We even got matching bracelets!" The green one yelled. She was obviously very angry. 

"I don't know you. I've never seen you in my life. I don't have any friends besides the Slayers and I sure as hell don't have some stupid bracelet that you're talkin' about! So leave me alone or suffer the payment for your actions!" Kat yelled back. She could easily whip these pitiful girls plus they had just pissed her off a lot. 

"What? Kat… surely you don't mean that! What's happened to you?" The purple one asked; hurt very strong in her voice.

Kat had to cover a flinch-it was almost like the purple girl had physically hit her with her words. Kat formed a dark energy ball in her hand and held it up to her face. "I suggest you leave now," she hissed venomously. 

"We're not leaving Kat! We want to know what happened to you! Why don't you remember us?" The green girl demanded. 

Kat shrugged, her eyes becoming cold. "You're choice," she stated, and then let the ball go. It flew through the air as fast as any lightning bolt and barely missed the purple girl. She was thrown to the side by the pure force of the energy, hitting the ground with a satisfying _thud_ and didn't move. 

The green girl looked at her comrade and then at Kat. "Kat, what are you doing girl?! That was Nicole! What's gotten into you?!" She screamed. 

Kat made another ball and threw it at the green girl. "I'm me and you're you. I don't believe that anything has "gotten into" me. Well, except for the teeny tiny urge to make you guys pay for making false things up about me," she replied evenly. 

The girl barely had time to dodge the ball that was sent flying her way before another was made and thrown. This time she didn't get so lucky. She was hit in the side by the ball and was thrown into a near by tree. Her body slumped against the tree and she didn't move. 

Kat smiled to herself. "A job well done, I'd say. Time to go back to bed," she said. She closed her eyes and went back to her peaceful dark world.  
**~END~**

AN: Well well, here's the tenth chapter! What's all this junk about Kat forgetting Nicole and Alex? Can that really be true? Can their friendship be over that easily? And how come Kat gets to call Guimel a Sheep Boy! **sobs** I wanted to do that! **laughs** Caffeine high and late nights are fun! Who told you otherwise? Don't listen to the stranger in the black coat! **runs around** R+R before I totally go caffeine-less and tell me what you think!

~ShadowKat


	11. Is It True? Can It Really Be You?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Escaflowne characters nor the story. It belongs to Bandai Entertainment. The only things I own in this story are my characters!

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****

Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is done for you!

****

Chapter 11: Is It True? Can It Really Be You?

"I don't believe it!" Alex moaned as she slowly woke up. 

Nicole, who lay wide-awake on the other side of the room, agreed. "Only a week ago she helped us save Fanellia. Now she's shooting at us! Something is definitely wrong here. When I looked into Kat's eyes, I saw that they were cold and held no emotion like she had been taken over by something else. I mean, she didn't even recognize us." 

Alex sat up and looked at Nicole. "You know, she acted a whole lot like Dilandau when we saw her. It was like she was a totally changed person. "You'll pay for making up false things about me"? I mean, where'd that come from? Doesn't sound like anything Kat would say to us," she said. 

Nicole nodded in agreement. "Van did say he had some info for us and that he wanted to see us after we tried to link with Kat, maybe it's about what happened to her," she suggested. 

"So let's go and see him," Alex said, jumping out of bed. 

She and Nicole walked out of their room that they shared and walked down the stairs. They were currently staying in a small house with the cat-woman known as Merle. She had grown up with Van and was certainly excited about them staying with her even though it was in the midst of a serious war. The tall, slim built, tan cat-woman with bright pink hair with dark stripes her bare skin was a great host and had even given up her room for the two girls. 

Luckily they found Van and Hitomi in the kitchen without having to drift from room to room. The house may have been small but the rooms seemed as vast as the Fanellian castle was wide. "You wanted to see us after we connected with Kat… so what's this info you have for us?" Alex asked, sitting down across from Van, who was sitting at the table. Nicole sat down next to Alex and began to stare at Van with pleading in her eyes. 

"Well.... I'm not sure how to phrase this," he began shifting uneasily in his seat. 

"Just give it to us straight," Nicole said. 

Van nodded and took a deep breath. "Through a lot of hard work I was able to get some information about Kat. Now, none of this is true, at least that I know of, but it sounds reasonable. Zaibach was doing some experiments on the mind previously and after the battle… well, word got out that Kat was a spy so they turned the experiments on Kat. They say that Zaibach messed with Kat's memory. 

"Supposedly they were only to take out a few memories of hers, from the past, but ended up messing up all of her memories-of the past and even some present ones. So to prevent losing her, they reconstructed them to where she never met you, came to Gaea alone and has been with Zaibach ever since. Also they say that they are making her think that everything they do is right. From what I can tell they didn't piece together anything else besides what I mentioned so Kat is lost about the past," He explained. 

Alex and Nicole stared at Van for a second. "Well, it does make sense. We just contacted her and she acted as if she had never seen us before. She even attacked us, which was totally strange," Alex said slowly, as if putting two and two together. 

"When she attacked she was a whole lot like Dilandau. Her eyes held the same kind of emotionless state in them that Dilandau's have when he attacks. What concerns me is that her powers have increased; if she attacks us I don't think we would even be able to protect ourselves," Nicole added. She was always the one to add in technical details.

There was an unspoken understanding around the table just then. Everyone knew that if Nicole and Alex couldn't reach Kat somehow, make her change sides or remember them, and then everything they had worked for was lost to Zaibach. "How.... if we can't reach her how can we stop her?" Nicole asked hesitantly. 

Van bit his lip. He had hoped it wouldn't come down to this. "She still has another three weeks to remember. Keep dream walking with her; see if you can get her to remember something about you, or the past. But if she doesn't remember anything by the end of the three weeks, we attack Zaibach and we take no prisoners," he replied solemnly.

Nicole gasped. 

Alex stared at Van with wide eyes. 

Hitomi almost dropped the dish she was cleaning, her mouth hanging wide. 

"It's the only way," Van said, defeated. 

"But.... but we could capture her and help her remember! That way we'd have more time! We'd have help!" Nicole pointed out desperately. 

"She could escape and go back to Zaibach," Van countered. 

"We could keep her under constant observation," Hitomi suggested. 

"She's gotten even more powerful then Nicole and Alex. If they don't think they could keep her at bay then how could we?" Van questioned. 

"We could take her and then go back to the Mystic Moon, get her help there! Then she wouldn't be able to restart Zaibach and we'd be home!" Alex cried out. 

"There is no way back, at least not one that I know of," Van replied, getting angry.

"But...." Hitomi started. 

"There's nothing we can do!" Van yelled. 

Hitomi, Nicole and Alex all lowered their heads, silently admitting defeat. Nicole began to cry, knowing that her friend's fate wasn't going to be pretty. Alex hugged Nicole trying to comfort her. Nicole knew things that others didn't see right away and right now Alex knew that her friend knew what was going to happen to Kat. Hitomi went back to washing dishes silently as she tried to come up with some sort of plan to help Alex and Nicole.

She had been back home and come back to Van. If you believed in the power of your wishes then you would be able to go back. Then again, the power of wishes did almost destroy the world, she thought as she scrubbed a pot clean. Wishes almost destroyed Gaea… if someone wishes hard enough would they be able to get their wish granted without destroying Gaea?

Van stood up and silently walked towards Merle's tree outside. He knew she'd be there and he needed his best friend right then; someone to talk to. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to get her out," Hitomi whispered when he was gone, looking at Nicole and Alex. They nodded hopefully. Hang in there, Kat, Nicole thought.

"Kat.... Kat," someone said over and over again in her ear. Kat swiped by her ear and the voice stopped. She snuggled into her pillow and tried to go back to sleep. The voice was silent and she was almost asleep again when the poking started. At first it was very gentle but steadily grew getting more violent by the second. 

Finally Kat had had enough and opened her eyes. The poking stopped as she swiped her arm through the air and then rolled onto her back. She saw Dalet looking very pleased above her. "Ugh, what a "good morning" sight," she muttered. 

Dalet stuck his tongue out at her and poked her in the arm again for good measure. "You're going to be late for that meeting that Lord Dilandau called. Plus you all ready missed breakfast," he said tauntingly. 

"What meeting?" Kat asked groggily. She never was a morning person. 

"The meeting Lord Dilandau called this morning at breakfast don't you-oh wait, you weren't there. It's in about fifteen minutes," Dalet replied, and then started out the door. "Oh, uniforms are required and it's in Lord Dilandau's Throne Room," he added before the door closed.

Kat lay there for a minute letting the information stink into her head. Once it set in she leapt out of bed and ran over to her dresser. "Damn it! Dilandau is going to kill me if I'm late!" She groaned as she yanked open her drawer, getting it lodged shut in her haste, groaned and stuffed her arm down into the drawer, searching for a clean uniform. 

She stopped for a second. "I don't have a Slayer uniform, so how am I supposed to wear my uniform if I don't have one?" She wondered out loud. 

Shrugging she grabbed some clean pants. "Can't hurt to try," she said to herself as she grabbed a top and quickly got changed. She quickly brushed her hair and put it into a high ponytail. Then she grabbed her boots and sword and ran out of her room, making a quick stop to the Dining Hall and grabbed a banana. 

Holding it in her mouth as she finished pulling on her boots, she then started running from the Dining Hall and towards Dilandau's Throne Room, which was about four miles away along with two deck changes. She was able to get her sword around her waist and start to eat her banana. 

Barely making it into the room and into formation she was seriously lucky because that was exactly when Dilandau walked in. Gatti whispered, "Peel," warning her of the banana peel still in her hand. She looked down at her hand and saw the remainder of her breakfast and quickly evaporated it. Letting out a small sigh as Dilandau sat on his throne and looked at them, seeming not to notice the breathless look on Kat's flushed face. 

"I actually made it," she whispered without moving her mouth to Gatti. Her heart was still beating wildly inside her chest.

"We had bets going on to see if you would actually make it. I just won twenty silver coins," he replied proudly with the same mouth less action. 

Kat stifled a giggle and returned to looking straight ahead. She felt Dilandau's eyes sweep over her and she smiled inwardly. He and she had a "relationship" if that's what you could call it. She knew he liked her, and she liked him but she'd never really told him. So far she's just been driving him crazy, flirting with him for a month, which was fun. 

Ah, I'll give the poor bloke a rest and tell him how I feel. He'll be happy about that, she thought. She had to admit she was getting bored with the game of cat and mouse.

"Kat, step forward," Dilandau ordered. 

She did as she was told and could feel all the Slayers giving her pitying looks. Honestly, they think he's going to beat me? I've been so loyal to him. In fact, I bet I'm more loyal then all of the Slayers put together! She thought jokingly. She knew it was the exact opposite-she had been trouble and a nuisance ever since she arrived. 

"Tell me, do you sense anyone else in this room?" He asked in a challenging tone. 

Kat's face lit up and she smiled like someone had just told her she had won the lottery. "Yes, I do. He's over here," she said. 

With that she clapped her hands. There were some muffled cries and after a few seconds a man wearing black boots, pants and a black button down leather shirt came out of the shadows-the thing was, he wasn't walking. The man had a wrinkled face worn by the sun and dark brown hair with graying roots. His green eyes were wide as he was floated towards Dilandau, not being able to control his body. 

Kat set the man down at the base of Dilandau's throne, grinning like crazy. She could tell the other Slayers were surprised by her ability of telekinesis-it was new to them. Really, it was all a matter of warping the dark energy around the man so it solidified and created an invisible handle-like mass of energy so then she could use her energy to simply pick it up and move it (AN: did anyone understand that? @_@). The paralysis was easy also, just enter into the man's head and use his inner most fear to subconsciously paralyze him. 

"Now, show the General how much you like to throw things," Dilandau ordered again. 

Kat's smile got wider as the wine bottle sitting upon Dilandau's stand was picked up and thrown through the air, aiming at the wall. Before hitting the wall she made it flip through the air performing loads of little gymnastic tricks. Then she had it fly back towards the General exploding just in front of his face.

Fortunately, the liquid or shards didn't hit the General because she deflected them. Too clean up her mess she simply evaporated it. The General stared at Kat for a second and then turned to Dilandau. 

"Folken and your reports were right. She is ready for this. You have my permission to go ahead with the mission," he said in an uptight voice. Kat had a hell of a time hiding her laughter. It sounded as if the dear General had just had his pride damaged by a mere girl. 

The General turned on his heels and quickly left the room. Dilandau made a face at the General's back just before he disappeared beyond the door. Once the door had fully closed, Kat turned to Dilandau. "Mission?" She asked, serious. 

"We have the position of the Dragon and the King of Fanellia," Dilandau spat as if the words were venom. "We are to be sent to capture it. Kat, you have your separate orders-I assume you know them. I want the whole place burned. We attack at the end of two weeks. Any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Dismissed!" He ordered. 

All the Slayers turned and quickly left the room, all except one-Kat. "Um, Dilandau?" She asked cautiously. 

Dilandau looked straight at her, showing she had his attention. 

Kat carefully climbed the stairs to his throne and kneeled in front of him. Dilandau leaned forward so they were now face-to-face and incredibly close. "I know you can't wait two weeks to attack so I'm assuming those are strict orders that you have to follow. So… I'm thinking maybe I can help you find something to bide the time with," she whispered, and quickly darted forward, her lips grazing his cheek. 

Then she got up and left the room without another word moving fast but not fast enough to seem like she was running. She could feel his eyes on her until the door slid shut behind her. Once the door to his Throne Room closed, Kat smiled to herself. This is a fun game playing with Dilandau. But it's getting way too old-I better tell him how I feel damn soon, or else I think the feeling will eat me inside out! She thought as she began to walk towards the Training Room.  


AN: Yay! We're getting close to the end here people… da da duh! Anyways, what's up with this cat and mouse game that Kat is playing with Dilandau? Are these feelings for him just an illusion like her past "memories"? Agh, the torment of love and angst! Heh, fun huh? Will Nicole and Alex get Kat back? Or will she forever be a servant of Dilandau? **gets cool idea for picture** Oooh, I like that idea! I'm off to draw it out now! Until the next chapter! R+R!

~ShadowKat  



	12. Remember Me Forever

Disclaimer: **runs around happy** I HAVE ESCA! I HAVE IT!! **men in black suits suddenly appear and grab the hysterical ShadowKat** Hey, no, it's MINE! HANDS OFF WEIRD-OS! LEGGO MY EGGO! **they grab the deed to Esca and disappear, leaving a distraught ShadowKat** They took my Eggo… NO FAIR! **CrimsonFire appears and hands ShadowKat a slip of paper** Oooh, pretty! Hey, it says I do own my characters! Hah! They can't take my Eggo! **runs around happily**

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Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is done for you!

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Chapter 12: Remember Me Forever

It was the 11th day after Dilandau had announced that they would be attacking the King of Fanellia and Kat was now psyched at the news. With the upcoming day turning the corner fast she had been determined to show she could handle her mission and had been training hard. She wanted to show Dilandau and Folken that she could handle herself on the battlefield. 

Kat laughed at herself as she punched a blue punching bag in the Training Room. She knew it was close to one in the morning and she wasn't supposed to be up. Who could sleep when those two annoying little girls kept bothering you when you tried to sleep? Telling you annoying things that never happened and kept saying, "please remember". 

She hadn't gotten a goodnight's sleep since the stupid dreams had started and her appearance showed it. Dark circles had claimed her eyes and her actions were a lot slower then normal. Everyone had begun to notice and Kat had just shrugged off the questions when they tried to figure out the cause. I can't exactly tell them about those stupid little girls that invade my dreams. They'd think that I was a little girl with an overactive imagination! Then they wouldn't let me go on the mission! She thought. 

She stopped and looked around. The Training Room suddenly seemed so empty and pathetic. Spending her time training throughout the night was beginning to get boring and it wasn't helping her condition any. Not only was she tired, sleepless but also she was pushing her physical limits. 

Maybe I should lay off the late night workouts, she thought as she put a towel around her neck and walked out of the Training Room. Her bare feet padded across the floor as she moved through the corridors. No one was up and it was quiet, leaving her to fall into deep thought. Her running shorts swished rhythmically as she walked and her sports tee showed that she had been sweating. 

As she walked she thought about the mission, the weird incident in the shower, the two girls, and Dilandau; but mostly about Dilandau. Her heart was screaming at her to tell him what she felt every time she saw him. The way her heart skipped a beat and her stomach fluttered in a good way-every time he touched her-the way he made her skin catch on fire and her pulse increase-and the way he spoke of her-that way her name rolled off his tongue so easily, it was like music to her ears. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed where she was walking. 

Her feet had led her straight up to Dilandau's bedroom door. She only realized where she was when she suddenly stopped-coming out of her thoughts she looked around and sighed. _Just go in, tell him about the dreams and then get out. You know they mean more to the mere eye._ The darkness that was a part of her mind spoke. 

Kat sighed softly, giving into the darkness. She was tired of battling it. Every night she had not gone to bed and roamed the Vione and every time she past Dilandau's door that part of her brain had screamed at her to just go in and tell him _both_ things. Yeah, I'm sure he's going to like this, she thought sarcastically.

She phased through Dilandau's door so not to lose confidence in knocking and not to wake him if there was a chance he was sleeping. She did not want a pissed off Dilandau when she told him. Entering his room she found that he had a very nice room; nice and spacey, with a fireplace to the left, a King size bed to the right with a nightstand; then a walk-in closet towards her, a bathroom attachment towards the far corner to her left and a desk by the door. 

"I was wondering when you would finally come in. Eleven nights of coming and stopping outside my door, correct?" A voice asked. 

Kat smiled and turned towards the voice, which was to her right. Dilandau stood almost an inch away from her, dressed only in black pants and a white muscle shirt. "Correct. I was wondering if you could hear me-but that's not what I came here for. I came here for two reasons," she said, holding up two fingers to get her point across. 

Dilandau smiled at her-a genuine smile. She had never seen him smile like that, it made his eyes sparkle and his face gentle. He gently took her upper arm and led her towards the fireplace, which was going. He sat her down in a crimson red wing chair in front of the fireplace and pulled another one up for him. "First reason?" He asked, taking a seat. 

"Well.... First is that I've been having these dreams. It's always the same thing... well, not always-but I'll tell you the most common dream. I'm in this forest, just sitting there. I know I can't get out and it's as if I'm waiting for something. The scene might change and sometimes its day or sometimes its night, but I'm always in a background that I've seen in the past. 

"Then these two girls come out. One is wearing a violet and the other one an emerald green cloak. They always start to talk to me, telling me lies and trying to convince me that I know them, which I don't. Crazy, I know. But they continue to say, "Remember, please". I don't know them and I can't wake myself from the dream without knocking them out," she said. 

There was a silence, and then Kat continued. "Second is that…" she paused for her own good. She could feel her stomach flutter and her thoughts darted around wildly. What if he denied her feelings? What if he got mad? What if she dreamed that he liked her? What if what she did now lost her the mission?

"Well?" Dilandau asked. "The second thing?"

"First promise me that if I tell you the second thing you won't take me off the mission."

"Promised."

There was another pause. "The second thing is that… that I sort of have this thing for you. It's not a crush-I don't have "crushes". It's deeper then a respect or liking, whether in the friendly way or the commander ideal. It's more of an infatuation… sort of. What I'm trying to say is that… is that I…" she paused, trying to get the words out. Come on girl don't lose confidence now! She told herself. "I… I love you."

There was another silence but Kat didn't speak. Neither spoke for a long time and Kat twitched in the silence. It was driving her crazy! Was he just going to sit there and not respond, make fun of her, or was he trying to think of a way to punish her for her childish feelings. "Childish I know… I shouldn't even be feeling such little emotions. Being a Dragon Slayer and all-no mercy and all that-" she was cut off suddenly when she felt something on her hand. 

She turned and saw that Dilandau had his hand on her hand that rested on the chair's arm, his eyes bearing into hers. "I have something to tell you, two things, actually. First these girls..." he paused. 

Kat looked at his eyes, hoping he would tell her something. Maybe he'll spill something about these girls, she thought. 

"Maybe they'd go away if you were with me," he finished. 

Kat quirked an eyebrow as he stood up, gently pulling her to her feet. He started to walk towards his bed. Reaching the bed he sort of knocked her feet out from under her and caused her to fall back on it. Kat scattered backwards as he slipped under the covers, her eyes wondering and her heart racing. What's he doing? She wondered. 

"What are we doing?" She asked, her tone stating that she hated not knowing what was going on. 

"You are spending the night with me-in the non-intimate terms-you know, being commander and only a few days before a mission and all," he whispered to her. 

Kat nodded cautiously snuggled up against Dilandau, resting her head on his shoulder and relaxing an arm over his chest. She felt his arm wrap around her and pull her against him. A small sigh escaped her lips and she closed her eyes (AN: note, they are sleeping _next_ to each other, not with each other! Just wanted to make that clear). For once something feels right, she thought as a warm feeling engulfed her from Dilandau's fingertips touching her back. 

She felt sleep come quickly and easily towards her. "Sleep well, my love," she heard Dilandau mutter in her ear before sleep engulfed her.  
**~DREAM~**

Kat was once again in the forest everything the same except that now the two girls were all ready there. "Kat, please, you have to remember us!" The blonde one cried. 

"I don't remember you so leave me the hell alone!" Kat screamed at them.

"We're best friends! You met me in the third grade! You saved me from being picked on by the biggest bully ever! Remember? And Nicole, we met her in fifth grade! She was new and alone! 

"I didn't really want to have her as our friend, but you insisted and we became friends! Then when the same bully that tried to pick on me tried to pick on Nicole, you got a bloody nose protecting her! Don't you remember?" The brown haired one asked. 

"God, can't you take the hint? Do I have to make a huge cue card for you? I said leave me alone!" Kat screamed again. She could feel the panic rising in her. It stressed her with their constant nagging-what were they talking about? 

She didn't know anything that they were talking about! It was all a trick! They were trying to get her to think that they were her friends so that way they could get plans from Zaibach through her! She would not let them use her!

"But, Kat!" The blonde cried again.

"You heard her. Leave her alone," a voice said. 

Kat looked to her side and saw Dilandau, in his Dragon Slayer's uniform, standing next to her. She silently sighed in relief as his sight greeted her eyes. "It's about time," she muttered. 

"Dilandau! Get away from her!" The brown haired one screamed, fury in her eyes. 

"I'll do no such thing. You heard Kat. Leave her be or else I'll have to get involved and it won't be pretty," Dilandau threatened. 

Kat smiled as she noticed that the two girls stiffened. "I suggest you leave now," she said. She heard Dilandau draw his sword and she raised her hand and created a ball of dark energy. 

"If I see you or if I even hear that you are in Kat's dreams again, you will regret ever interring her dreams," Dilandau hissed. 

"I'll add some of my own punishment once he's done with you," Kat added as she let the ball fly. It hit a tree behind the two girls, causing the tree to fall. Kat didn't get to see what happened to the girls because just as the tree was inches from their heads Dilandau whispered, "Let's go back to sleep" and blackness consumed her.  
**~END~**

"How could she...?" Alex raged. She and Nicole had just woken up remembering what had happened when they had tried to contact Kat.

"Dilandau must've been with her, it's the only explanation as to why he could appear in our dream walk with Kat. But.... if he was with her, or even in the same area as her, and she was able to call him into our dream walk, then what does that mean? Could she really be more powerful then both of us? There is no way we could ever call someone into our dream walks," Nicole asked. 

Alex bit her lip for a minute. She hated it when Nicole asked hard to answer questions. "I.... I don't know. Maybe it was one of those one-time things. But I can't ignore the feeling that Kat has something more going on inside of her. I don't know how I got that feeling but whenever I look into her eyes it's as if I can see that she's trying to remember something deep inside," Alex replied.

Nicole was silent for a second. "Alex?" She asked softly in that soft voice you only used when you realized something life changing. 

Alex turned to her friend and looked at her. Nicole's face showed pain. "What is it? Are you hurt?" Alex asked, immediately concerned. 

"I'm fine. It's just that I think Kat won't remember us in time. We've tried everything. She doesn't want to believe us and that is providing a barrier for her to hide behind from us. We haven't been able to get through in our dream walks. We need to meet face to face, on her grounds, her terms, which would be the battlefield right before she kills us. That's the only way, maybe the last resort we have, to get through to her and even then it might not work. As long as she believes we're telling lies she won't come back to us," she whispered.

Alex looked at Nicole in horror. Nicole, usually the second most determined person, was giving up on Kat? She was actually going to let Van attack Kat and probably kill her? 

"That's not what I'm saying," Nicole said, looking at Alex in the eye, reading her friend's thoughts. "I'm not going to let him kill her, Alex. We just have to meet on Kat's terms, and right now that's battle in real life-even if we might die. I'm just saying that we need to give Van the go ahead to attack."

Alex continued to stare at Nicole. I'm not sure. What if Kat gets to us before we can make her remember? What if something goes wrong and we loose her; or even worse, one of us? She thought. 

"Please, Alex. You know it'll work. We just have to do it, it's our only chance, and believe that deep down Kat's still our Kat," Nicole pleaded. 

Alex looked at Nicole, this time looking straight into her eyes. Nicole was right. Slowly Alex nodded. 

Both girls stood up and left their room. They knew that tomorrow or the next day they would be attacking Zaibach, and seeing if they could get Kat to remember them.

Kat smiled to herself as she stepped out of the Vione and onto the soft grass. Today they were going to attack the King of Fanellia, a little ahead of schedule but good things come early. And I'm to capture those two annoying girls from my dreams. Since those are the ones that Dornkirk explained needed to be captured, she thought with glee. 

She was finally going to get her revenge on both of them plus she would get to fight in a raging battle. It was time to crush the enemy in the blaze of the great fire. Suddenly Kat felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Dilandau behind her. "Thinking about the battle?" He asked, excitement in his tone. 

Kat nodded enthusiastically. "You know it," she replied. 

Dilandau flashed her a true smile. "Good. We'll be attacking on horseback. You'll be using my stallion's colt. He's still young and hasn't been trained properly yet, but he's the only thing we got," Dilandau explained. 

Kat smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. Ever since the night she had spent sleeping at his side she held felt more at ease about his feelings towards her and was able to drop the game and just flirt with him in normal terms. It was as if hearing him whisper in her ear, "my love" had set something in her head that she couldn't un-switch no matter how hard she tried. Everything she did around him was normal. 

She grinned, returning to the talk of her horse. She knew exactly the horse he was talking about. "No problem. Give me, like, twenty minutes to get him ready and then I'll meet you at the front," she called over her shoulder as she began to jog towards the stables. 

Dilandau watched her go. He knew that if things went as Folken had planned, he wouldn't be seeing Kat ever again. 

Nicole and Alex stood in their uniforms at the front of the army Van had been preparing for the attack for over a month. They weren't really surprised that he was ready to rock and roll on such a short notice. They were more concerned about what would happen when they met Kat. 

It was obvious to both girls that their friend was much more powerful then them and that she had surpassed their powers. Their fear of hurting her was enormous and their fear that she might go overboard was even bigger. However they knew that if they didn't get through to her their struggle would be pointless.

Van signaled for the troops to begin moving and Nicole and Alex started walking forward. They would be at the front until they got near Zaibach, then they would move to the middle and act as back up. If they didn't find Kat in the first wave they would have to wait for her to find them. They were to take any chance they could to get to Kat and try to reach her. "I hope this works," Alex muttered.

"It will," Nicole reassured her.

"Ugh!" Kat groaned for what seemed the millionth time. The black horse with the crooked blaze she rode was fighting her for the reins again. He constantly wanted to move forward or go another way and she had to use extreme force to get his stubbornness under control. They had been riding for a couple of hours and the colt's actions were getting very annoying. 

"God, Dilandau! He wasn't nearly as bad when I last rode him!" Kat yelled over her shoulder as the colt suddenly jumped forward, putting even more distance between her and Dilandau's horse. 

Damn, almost seems as if he wants to get me somewhere fast, Kat thought. She pulled the reins hard but the colt took no heed. "Oh, come on! I know you're feeling that! Just slow down, damn it!" She yelled, partly to herself. She struggled to get the colt under control again, only to wind up loosing. 

Kat bit her lip as she held onto the black colt's mane as he charged forward, the reins lost. She knew Dilandau and the other Slayers could no longer see her for she was far ahead of them. This is not good, Kat thought as she suddenly picked up on a very familiar presence. Damn, it's those bitches from my dreams. Oh well, they'll find out soon enough the price for messing with me, she thought. 

Just then the colt reared up. Kat gripped the mane harder, unfazed by this and just held on. When the colt's feet finally returned to the ground, she found herself staring at the two girls from her dreams standing right in front of her. "Well, hello; fancy meeting you here, no? Oh, I forgot, I still owe you something," Kat said as she drew her sword.  


  
AN: Da da duh! What's going to happen?! OMG, Kat's actually attacking Nicole and Alex, face to face! The HORROR! No magical fairy dust cure here (**has been watching too many IBM E-Server commercials**). Not even a magical lamp! Uh oh. Will she kill them? Will she remember in time? Hm… "She heard Dilandau draw his sword and she raised her hand and created a ball of dark energy" doesn't look like the sort of thing that Kat would do to fake something. Plus it makes for a pretty cool picture. ^_^ Well, what's going on people?! The next chapter will reveal… R+R!

~ShadowKat 

  
  



	13. My Everything

Disclaimer: **runs around happy** I HAVE ESCA! I HAVE IT!! **men in black suits suddenly appear and grab the hysterical ShadowKat** Hey, no, it's MINE! HANDS OFF WEIRD-OS! LEGGO MY EGGO! **they grab the deed to Esca and disappear, leaving a distraught ShadowKat** They took my Eggo… NO FAIR! **CrimsonFire appears and hands ShadowKat a slip of paper** Oooh, pretty! Hey, it says I do own my characters! Hah! They can't take my Eggo! **runs around happily**

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****

Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is done for you!

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Chapter 13: My Everything

Nicole and Alex barely had time to dodge Kat's sword as it came down to behead them. "Aw, are the wittle girls scared of da big bad girl?" Kat taunted as she leapt easily from her horse and landed in front of Nicole, who was the nearest. Kat raised her sword, ready to strike, while the girl was still shocked by the sudden movement she had just executed when suddenly a force like no other swept over her body. 

The sword clattered to the floor as her body went limp for a few seconds. She could feel the biting of sharp pain jolting all over her body and could smell the faint smell of dying flesh. Her vision blurred and darkened for a while until everything came back sharper and her body gained strength again. 

She whirled around to find Alex standing behind her, in her hands balls of electricity sparked. "DON'T GO NEAR HER!" She screamed at Kat in rage. This had gone far enough. If Kat was willing to actually kill Nicole, the girl Kat admired for strength, then she wasn't sure if they could ever bring her back. Even if we did the memories of what she could've done would kill her, she thought. 

Kat simply smiled in return. The Purple One was too weak to satisfy by killing right now. She wanted a real fight and it looked as if the Green One was willing to but up a nice battle. "All right. I'll go after you then, Green One," Kat replied with venom. 

__

Suddenly an image flashed through her mind so fast that she barely had time to process it before it was gone. But something in her subconscious clicked and a bell began to go off. As if bringing up an article from the depths of the sea, a small flicker of recognition flashed over Kat's face as she remembered-no, saw-a girl, with shoulder length brown hair pulled in pigtails and emerald green eyes sparkling as she roller skated down a clear path, the sun shinning behind her and her face smiling. Kat shook her head, clearing the picture from her mind, and charged. 

Alex gasped inwardly at Kat using her nickname. Could it be that she was slowly starting to remember? She saw Kat hesitate as a look of recognition flashed quickly over her face and Alex's heart gave a huge leap-until she charged. The charge was fast and she could tell her heart wasn't in it, as if whatever she experienced had clicked something into place. Alex leapt to the side and Kat blew past her. 

But Kat had seen that move coming and easily whirled around ready to strike. Alex, knowing Kat's moves, figured Kat would use that move so as Kat whirled around she charged up another ball of electricity and threw it at her. The ball hit the unsuspecting Kat right in the chest and she fell to the ground. 

It couldn't have been that easy, Alex thought as she eyed her friend's body. She hadn't moved for a few seconds. The charge should've worn off by now. 

Kat had felt the electricity hit her in the chest and jump around her skin and she had fallen backwards from the shock. Pain washed over her as she hit the ground. Another vision popped up in her head as she laid there, her vision darkening again. 

__

The Green One appeared inside her head, soaking wet and carrying an umbrella, giving a pathetic smile. "Your family again, huh?" She heard herself asking. "No problem, you can bunk the night with me. If you want to talk about it we can." 

The girl gave her an appreciative smile. "You're the greatest, Kat." 

Kat's eyes flew open and she jumped to her feet. A fire was now present in her eyes, rage burning inside of her as she glared at both girls and she hoped they knew that they had just seriously pissed her off. How dare they come into my head and give me these memories! They're not real! She screamed inside her mind. 

Alex stepped back towards a now standing Nicole. They both knew that she had just seriously pissed off Kat and a pissed off Kat was a bad thing-a very bad thing. "I don't like being beaten up by little girls. So you will pay for what you did," she growled. 

Nicole came to Alex's side standing strong. She wouldn't let her take the brunt of Kat's attacks alone. "Kat, don't do this! You just called Alex by her nickname, so you must remember her a little!" Nicole cried.

"Don't, Nikki. She's pissed," Alex warned. 

__

Another image past by Kat and in her mind's eye she saw a girl with shoulder blade length blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a light blue skating outfit with gold trim around the neck and cuffs and white skates. The girl, Nicole Rosemere a booming voice announced, was just about to go onto the frozen rink to perform. 

Kat shook her head harder this time, the look of recognition returning to her face and the disappearing. I don't know any Nicole Rosemere, she thought harshly. Annoyed with the interruptions of the memories she quickly made a ball of dark energy and threw it at the green one. "ALEX!" The blonde one screamed as her friend went flying fifteen feet backwards. 

Kat smiled to herself. So Alex is the Green One, and Nicole must be the Purple One, she thought. At least now I know what to put on their gravestones. She made another ball and threw it at Nicole. It hit her and she flew back fourteen feet like her friend. 

Alex had by now recovered and was on her feet. "Nicole, we need to fight together!" She cried as Kat fired another round of black balls hoping that Nicole was still conscious. There wasn't a reply and the black balls came in fast-by some twisted luck Alex was able to dodge them. 

Nicole, recovered, got to her feet and nodded at Alex. Alex nodded back; she knew what the signal meant. They both created balls of energy in their hands, Nicole Earth energy and Alex balls of electricity, and then both started throwing them at Kat. 

Kat merely sighed as she saw the barrage of energy come flying towards her. Don't they have anything fun to throw at me? So far it's been like picking on a mouse, she thought. She held up her hand and all the energy stopped, then flicking her wrist as if shooing away an unwanted guest the balls went flying back towards their creators. Kat made a few balls the size of her head and added them into the hail of energy, just to be sure.

"AH!" Both girls cried as the hail of energy hit them with such force that they went flying backwards a couple of yards and then slide a couple of feet. 

"I was really hoping you guys would put up more of a fight," Kat stated as she calmly walked over to the battered bodies of Nicole and Alex. "All ready beaten-how sad. You're very weak and pathetic, you know that?" 

"We're not beaten yet, Kat," Alex said as she forced herself to stand up. Her body screamed in protest and she tried to fight the nauseated feeling in her stomach. 

"We will never be beaten until we have you back," Nicole added, all ready standing. Her legs were about to collapse and she could faint front the pure pain her body was experiencing but she wouldn't let Alex know how badly she was hurting.

Kat quirked an eyebrow and replied, "Oh, really? You want me that much?" 

The look in both the girl's eyes shocked Kat. It was the same look that Dilandau gave her when he thought she wasn't paying attention-the same look of love and caring. But… but this look had another thing… something she couldn't quite place…

__

More images popped up in her head. Nicole and Alex standing in front of her, both wearing the same shirt, their faces a mixture of fear and doubt. "We can beat them!" She heard herself say confidently. "You know why? Because we're friends and that means we know each other better then anyone! We know each other's strengths and weakness so we can counter for those faults. When we work together we are unstoppable! So let's win this thing not with talent or speed or ability, but friendship."

The scene changed and they were sitting on a stage, Nicole silently crying, dressed in a fancy pink dress, her hair done up in a bun. "I shouldn't have believed he'd be back," she whispered broken-heartedly. 

"Non-sense! He was back for a little while but you know he wouldn't stay forever. At least the time he gave you were for the best, right? You got to know him better then you did twelve years ago. You have that to comfort you. So stop looking in the past, look to the future. Who knows, maybe you really touched him."

Another scene change and this time they were sitting in a dark room but Alex and Nicole around her. They sat on cold, hard metal chairs and listened to the rain pound against the windows and roof. "You know… it's stupid, but we're actually better off," she said.

"How?" Alex demanded.

"I don't see a "silver cloud" here." Nicole agreed.

"Think about it guys. We were fighting but this whole getting locked inside the school thing was a blessing. It's given us a chance to think and regroup. Now look at us, we're actually sitting together in a room, unforced, and we're actually looking at each other."

"Yeah well…" Alex said.

"It's better then being alone in a dark room," Nicole said, smiling.

"I'd rather be here with you guys then bunking in the cafeteria." Alex added.

"See? We can't really stay mad at each other over gossip that wasn't started by us. Friends?"

"Friends forever."

"Friends forever."

"We'd do anything for you, Kat, and we know you'd do anything for us. We're friends, and that's what friends do," Nicole said. 

"Friends are there for each other. Just like we were so many times. Kat, come back to us. We know this isn't really you. Please, remember us," Alex added. 

Kat stared at them for a second… something inside of her screamed at her. She couldn't make out the words but it was like it was telling her to give in… she could feel her mind starting to drift as if moving towards a light… and then it happened. A searing hot pain inside her head came forth causing Kat unbearable pain. She let out a scream of pain and fell to the ground, her body shaking uncontrollably. 

"KAT!" Both Nicole and Alex screamed, rushing to their fallen friend. But Kat was far from their help now. Her eyes were blank as her body shivered and for a few seconds it looked as if they could reach her but then her body went still.

"Kat, Kat! Kat, are you okay? Kat?" Nicole cried, shaking her now still friend resting in her lap as her eyes drooped shut. 

"Kat, answer us! Please, Kat! Kat, don't leave us!" Alex cried, hot tears forming in her eyes.

"She won't awake," a voice said from above them. Nicole looked up and saw Dilandau, muddy and covered in blood. His eyes didn't hold the same fire or iciness that they usually did.

"What did you do to her?!" Nicole demanded.

"I didn't do anything except love her. Folken was the one who changed her," he replied quietly. 

Nicole's eyes went wide at his reply. So the rumors were true. "Oh dear God," she whispered, looking down at Kat.

Alex, who seemed to not have heard him, continued to mutter Kat's name as if it would help the situation. 

Dilandau kneeled next to Alex and took Kat's hand in his. He knew what was happening to her and he knew that the others would want to know.

"What's happening to her?" Alex asked Dilandau, turning to him as if realizing he was now there, tears running down her face.

"She's fine. It's just that you two have been putting too much pressure on her, causing the chip that Folken installed in her brain to work overload to keep her memories from resurfacing. Now that chip's exploded-not a big enough explosion to cause her any harm-but right now she's remembering everything," he explained. Once she remembers, everything will go crazy, he added to himself mentally. 

Just then Kat slowly blinked her eyes. She sat up and looked around her eyes showing her confusion. "Alex? Nicole? Dilandau?" She asked wearily, looking at each face in turn. It was as if she was just waking from a dream.

Alex nodded and glomped Kat and Nicole joined in too. Dilandau just watched; he knew what would happen know. He had to get out of there-he didn't want to see his love lost to him. He stood up and ran back the way he came. I wish you the best, love, he thought as he ran.

Only Kat noticed him go. "DILANDAU! WAIT!" She screamed after his retreating form, her hand stretched out as if trying to grab him. But it was no use. Kat closed her eyes and let the tears come. She knew he was going back to the battle and she knew that he wouldn't come back to her. 

She would never see him again. Memories flashed through her head. _"Sleep well, my love." _

"You look good in blue. That's the reason I gave you that." 

"Why don't you listen?" 

"Little kitten, are you lost?" 

"Hush, you're being stupid." 

"I'll be by your side in the battle."

"You live for action, it's in your blood, it's in your heart your soul! You can't escape the craving for bloodshed and the fight!"

"Listen to the fire Kitten, what's it telling you?" 

His voice echoed in her mind. She held her two friends close and kept her eyes closed. It's telling me to love you Dilandau… I wish that you'd come back to me…. I wish that we'd go home… I wish that Zaibach would be destroyed! She cried inside her head.

Suddenly familiar warmth filled her and her eyes flew open. She inhaled sharply as she was slowly lifted from the ground, bathed in a blue light. She saw Nicole and Alex being bathed in two lights too-Alex a green light and Nicole a purple light. Both were being lifted off the ground like Kat. The trio closed their eyes and felt themselves being pulled somewhere else.  


AN: AW! Sob story! That was so sad… Dilandau's final words to Kat… Oh, and for reference, I didn't include those scenes in the story. Those are saved for a new story I'm playing with (I know, how many can I write?) so just keep an eye out. Wow, are they really going home? Where's Dilandau going? What's going to happen to Gaea? WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?! The final chapter is coming and will this be the final chapter for the Protectors? Maybe… time will tell, time will tell. Until then, use your time to R+R 'cause I love hearing from y'all! R+R!

~ShadowKat  
  



	14. Gone?

Disclaimer: **runs around happy** I HAVE ESCA! I HAVE IT!! **men in black suits suddenly appear and grab the hysterical ShadowKat** Hey, no, it's MINE! HANDS OFF WEIRD-OS! LEGGO MY EGGO! **they grab the deed to Esca and disappear, leaving a distraught ShadowKat** They took my Eggo… NO FAIR! **CrimsonFire appears and hands ShadowKat a slip of paper** Oooh, pretty! Hey, it says I do own my characters! Hah! They can't take my Eggo! **runs around happily**

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Three Girls

This story is dedicated to the only person I know who has a heart of gold and a talent for the art of story telling. CrimsonFire my friend, you've been there for me when I've needed you and you're always willing to help me out no matter what situation I'm in. So this one is done for you!

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Chapter 14: Gone…?

We're not going home, Alex thought as she noticed where they were. They were still on Gaea floating over a huge battle. That's when she saw what was happening on the battlefield. The Zaibach forces were crushing Van's troops. "Guys, we're Gaea's Protectors, right?" Kat asked. 

"Yeah," Nicole replied. 

"Then if we aren't going home, maybe we're supposed to stop this from happening. I have a feeling that this battle isn't supposed to turn out the way its going come out," Kat suggested.

"Kat's right. I don't think Zaibach is supposed to win. If… well, when they do, then they can easily take over Gaea. As Gaea's Protectors we can't allow that," Alex agreed. 

"Then how do we stop this from happening? It's obvious that Gaea wants us to stop this but how?" Nicole asked.

"Guys, take my hands. I think all of us know how to stop this. Just take my hands and relax," Kat ordered. She reached out to Nicole and Alex, who were on either side of her. They held hands forming a circle. 

"Close your eyes," Alex ordered. It was as if something inside of her was instructing her what to do next. The girls did as they were told. 

"Relax… We won't win this with talent or speed or ability. We'll win it with friendship," she said. Suddenly Kat felt like she had just swallowed a 10-volt battery. She could feel her powers overflowing in her and she knew that Nicole and Alex were feeling the same thing. It was like they were suddenly connected, sensing one another's thoughts and feelings-like they were a part of their mind.

"Powers of the Earth that I command, 

Protector of Gaea that I am, 

I seek upon thy powers to reform and shape the future! 

Bring forth the Time Creature!" Nicole's voice rang out. 

Three sets of eyes sprung open all at once and there, in the middle of the circle was a dragon made completely of light. It's eyes spark as it stared at the Protector's of Gaea. "Powers of the Dark Moon that I command, 

Protector of Gaea that I am! 

I call upon thee Time Creature to reshape the future! 

Make Fanellia win at the cost of Zaibach's greatest warriors!" Kat cried.

"As you wish," the dragon replied in a deep booming voice that echoed around them. Snaking from the middle of the circle it began its work, twisting and turned and zigzagging around in the beam of light trailing behind it a stream of glittering rainbows. Kat, Nicole and Alex watched as Fanellia troops suddenly rushed Zaibach as if a surge of energy had been granted to them. 

They watched as the Dragon Slayers fell and Zaibach was almost completely destroyed all in the matter of seconds. Time had been speed up for the course of the battle. Then, the dragon done with snaking around inside the beam of light disappeared and they watched, floating above the scene, as the remainder of Zaibach fled. 

Kat was glad to see that Dilandau was still alive and that he was disappearing into the forest. "I love you, never forget that," she whispered to him even though she knew he couldn't hear her. Then the beam of light became brighter, taking them back to their home.

Kat slowly opened her eyes, hoping that she was still in Gaea. But the sight of her room made her heart drop a little. She really hadn't wanted to come back to Earth, but she did anyway, and it was sort of a mixed blessing. She rolled over and saw that Nicole and Alex were awake also. All of their magic stuff had disappeared and they were all on the floor, dressed in what they had been in before they had left.

"Kat, we know you loved Dilandau and that he loved you. We also know that you want to go back to him. We're sorry we brought you back-" Nicole began looking at her friend's hurting eyes. 

Kat held up a hand, silencing her. "True, I do love him and I do want to be with him, the whole true love crap you know? But I just couldn't stay there! Who would watch out for you guys until we get into college?" She asked with a smile.

Alex and Nicole both jumped on Kat, hugging her. "She's back!" They both exclaimed. 

Soon the room was a whirlwind of pillows and screams. Don't worry, Dilandau. I'll be back, Kat swore as she threw a pillow. Until then she could only continue with her life.

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*~***~* The End *~***~*  
  
  


AN: Short chap, right? I could've put it in chapter thirteen but I was going to be mean and hold it over y'all. Now it's out! YAY! So what's going to happen in the next story, hm? Is Kat going back to Dilandau? Or are they done being Protectors? You never know… watch for "Return of the Moon" in the revised edition! It's coming out today. ^_^ Aren't I a good author? I'm giving y'all what you want! The second establishment of this new project! Until the next story, R+R and be friends! 


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